One of the Boys
by princessyuki08
Summary: When Peter's sisters, Anna and Sarah, come back to New York City after years of being away, it brings back old feelings and new surprises for the Ghostbusters gang. Slightly AU, but does follow the first movie. Ray/OC and Egon/OC A few chapters do contain strong language.
1. The One Where Anna Returns to NYC

**AN: Hello and thank you for reading this story. I'll have more notes up here as the story goes on.**

 **I don't own Ghostbusters, only my characters.**

 **Happy reading.**

 **Chapter One: The One Where Anna Returns to NYC**

It had been a long time, but I was finally home. One of my mother's last wishes was for me to finish my schooling at Abbey Mount and then to go to Oxford. I had finally gotten my Doctorate in Literature. I had many plans for my new life in New York, but the first thing on my agenda was to see Peter, Egon, and Ray. I went down to the university and to the Paranormal and Parapsychology Studies Department. I had Egon send me a map a few weeks before I left London. I found the door open and I walked in. "Peter? Ray? Egon?" I called looking around. Someone came out of one of the offices. It took me a minute to realize who he was, a smile formed on my face. "Ray!" He looked so different from the last time I saw him a year ago, happier almost.

He came over to me very surprised, "Anna, is that you?"

"It is." I smiled.

He hugged me, "I haven't seen you since-."

"It's good to see you too, Ray." I told him before he could finish. No one else knew about my little trip back here a year ago for his birthday.

"Does anyone know you're here?" He asked as he let go, "Did anyone know you were coming?"

"Egon was the only one who knew I was coming and you're the only one who knows I'm here as far as I know."

"He never told us you were coming back." Ray told me. It was good to know that Egon kept my secret, although he always did.

"I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Wait, until Peter sees you, he's doing a research study now," Ray looked at the clock on the wall where the door was, "Actually, he should be done by now or getting close to it, and we've got to meet Egon at the library."

"Why the library?"

"A librarian just had an encounter with a ghost!" He replied ecstatically, "Egon's already down there."

"Then let's go get Peter and see what's going on." I replied excitedly.

We started to walk down to the one of the Paranormal Studies offices, a lanky frustrated student with a mass of dark brown hair passed us; Ray looked at the student perplexed, and then started to speak again to divert my attention, "So what have you been up to?"

"I just finished getting my doctorate in Literature; I want to be a writer."

"Not surprising." He replied intrigued, "Do you have any ideas yet?"

"I want to do something about the paranormal or realistic fantasy. Some type of series. But beyond that I have absolutely no idea. I was hoping to find it here."

"At the university?"

"No, no, just in New York."

"Oh, I hope you find what you're looking for." He replied, just as we got there, "I just have to get Pete about the library." He opened the door to reveal my brother talking with a female student, "This is it! This is definitely it!" He exclaimed to Peter as he went inside, I watched from the doorway as the two interacted. Ray grabbed a video camera off of the counter top, "Have those UV senses come in for the video camera? I need it. And that blank tape that you erased yesterday." Ray went to the end of the table.

"Will you excuse me for a second?" Peter went over to Ray, jumped up, so he could smack the back of his head, "I'm right in the middle of something Ray!"

"Are you here for the tests?" The blonde girl asked me, when she saw me standing in the doorway. She was probably at least four or five years younger than me.

"No, I'm just visiting." I smiled as a tiny plan form in my head, "I have a feeling that you were here for the tests though and you were getting them all right, but the person with you wasn't."

"Yes, Dr. Venkman said I had a gift." She replied a little in awe and surprise.

"I don't doubt that" I replied, finishing in my head, 'He'd make up any lie if it meant it would keep a woman around him longer.'

Ray came over to me, "Let's go. Pete'll join us in a minute, he's going to say goodbye."

Right after we walked out of the room, I replied with a laugh, "Yeah, sure, and then he's going to make a date with psychic Barbie."

"He wouldn't. She's a student."

"Wanna bet on it?"

"Okay fine."

"Five bucks says that he'll meet her here at eight. She'll suggest the time." I replied. We went back in and listened to his goodbye. I was right. I looked at Ray, his jaw dropped slightly. We went back out the door. I skipped the 'I told you so' and went straight to, "You owe me five bucks."

Ray gave me the money, "How did you know that was going to happen?"

"I know my brother," I replied, "Plus I talk to Egon."

The girl left first. Peter was a few minutes behind her, his eyes went wide when he saw me, "Anna?!"

"Hey Pete." I smiled. He pulled me into a massive hug.

"When did you… How did you...What are you…" He started multiple times and finally decided, "It's good to see you, Anna."

"I'm happy to see you too, Pete." I replied, after a few seconds I added, "You're squishing me!" He laughed and let go. We headed out to meet Egon.


	2. The One With the Ghost in the Library

**Chapter Two: The One with the Ghost in the Library**

"As a friend, I have to tell you, you've finally gone around the bend on this ghost business. You guys have been running your ass off meeting and greeting every schizo that says he has a paranormal experience. What have you seen?" Peter said to Ray.

"Seeing isn't believing, Pete; just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not real." I commented.

"Give me an example?" Peter replied.

"Have you ever seen a million dollars?" I pointed out, "Or Dodo birds, they used to exist and no one has ever seen one of those."

Peter rolled his eyes, "You should have stopped after the million dollar comment."

"And of course, you forget, Peter; I was president of the undersea unexplained mass sponge migration." Ray added.

Peter sighed, "Ray, the sponges only migrated about a foot and a half."

Peter went over to Egon and started messing with the table he was trying to listen to. Peter said Egon's name in a way that made it sound like a moan of a ghost and he bang on the table. He finally dropped a hardcover book on the table and that got Egon's attention, "Oh, you're here." He greeted them surprised, standing, and then when he saw me, he smiled, "Hey Anna, have a nice flight?"

"I did, thank you."

"What have you got?" Peter asked him.

"This is big, this is really big. There's definitely something here." Egon replied as we started to walk away from the table.

"Egon, this reminds me of the time you tried to drill a hole through your head, remember that?" Peter replied on the other side of Ray, looking past me to Egon.

"You tried to drill a hole through your head?" I asked Egon, "When the hell did you try to drill a hole through your head?"

"Doesn't tell you everything, does he?" Ray whispered to me, clearly smirking, judging from his tone. I rolled my eyes at the comment and ignored him.

"That would have worked if you hadn't stopped me." Egon replied to Peter.

"What in hell possessed you to want to drill a hole through you head?" I asked Egon. He didn't answer.

One of the workers showed us to the librarian who had the encounter. And she described her attack to us. She described every part she remembered, "And it had arms, I remember because it reached out for me."

"Arms? I can't wait to get a look at this thing!" Ray commented excitedly.

"Wouldn't we all." I agreed, but I had to admit, I wasn't as excited as he was. Although, I don't think anyone could have been.

"Alice, I'm going to ask you a couple of standard questions, okay?" Peter asked for her consent. She nodded. "Have you or anyone in your family ever been diagnosed with schizophrenic or mentally incompetent?" He started with the questions.

"My uncle thought he was Saint Jerome."

"I'd call that a big yes." Her replied and then asked another question, "Are you habitually using drugs, stimulants, or alcohol?"

"No." She replied.

"No, no, just asking. Are you, Alice, menstruating right now?"

"Peter!" I hit him on the back of the head. "I'm sorry, ma'am, about the offensive question; my brother is currently going through manopause. Stress and desperation caused it to come a bit early. Forgive him."

"That hurt, Anna. Go over by Ray and let me proceed with my questioning" Peter replied, and turned back to Alice, "Alice, please answer the question. Were you currently menstruating at the time or are menstruating now?"

"I didn't know they invented a word for what Pete was going through." Ray whispered, chuckling softly.

"They didn't." I replied, "I did."

"It's moving!" Egon announced. Ray and I followed him and Peter was a few seconds behind us. We followed him all the way down to the basement and down an aisle of book. "Look!" Egon exclaimed.

"At what?" I asked not being able to see anything. Peter and Ray had somehow gotten in front of me before we headed down the aisle. I couldn't see over them or through them to see what it was the three of them were looking at. Apparently humans don't become transparent until their afterlives.

"Guys, would one of you let Anna take a look at this?" Egon asked. Ray moved to the other side of the books and let me go ahead.

"Thank you, Egon. Thanks, Ray." I replied and looked at the stack of books. I looked at the spines to see how they were organized. "This is symmetrical book stacking. It hasn't really been used since the Philadelphia Mass Turbulence of 1947; well, it's been used a bit here and there, but it's not popular."

"You're right" Peter said, "No human being would stack books like this. I'm surprised one even knows about it."

"If you actually cracked open a real book once and awhile, you might know about it too." I jeered.

"And this is coming from the little girl who believes in rabbits that have horns." Pete scoffed.

"They are called Jackalopes, and they have antlers not horns!" I retorted. "And when have I ever been little to you? I'm only two years younger than you are!"

Pete cut me off, "Why don't say that a little louder, Anna? The people in Times Square couldn't you. If you've forgotten we're-"

"Listen." Ray caught our attention. "You smell something?"

Egon moved down the aisle first, I followed him, Ray followed me, and Peter was right behind us. We followed Egon to a file room. Some of the narrow drawers used to hold cards were opened to the point that they could fall out if you touched them lightly with the gentlest movement of your hand. There was some type of slimy, mucusy gunk on them also. It looked like someone with a terrible cold decided to blow their nose all over the drawers.

"Talk about telekinetic activity, look at this mess!" Ray exclaimed.

"Raymond, look at this." Egon said. Ray came over to him, I scooted to the other side of Egon, so he could get by.

"Ectoplasmic residue!" Ray exclaimed in awe.

"Venkman get a sample of this." Egon said.

"Which one?" We asked.

"I meant Peter." Egon replied, "Unless you want to get it, Anna?"

I looked at it for a second, and then replied, "I think I'm good…" I backed away from it slightly, "Pete can get this one."

"That's what I thought." Egon replied.

Peter came over to the drawer we were examining, "Somebody blows their nose and you wanna keep it?"

"I want to analyze it." Egon corrected. Ray and I moved down as Peter started collecting the gunk. Ray pointed out the ones that have even more slime and worse readings. Egon told us to follow him and I went after Egon and Ray was right behind me recording everything with his camera. Peter finished collecting the gunk and followed us.

"Egon, your mucus." Peter handed him the container.

A creaking sound came from behind me. I felt a tug at my arm pulling me ahead. A couple of second later there was a thud was heard. I looked down at my arm, the hand wasn't there. I looked behind me the bookcase had collapsed. I looked at Egon, who was the closest to me. "Thanks for pulling me away from that."

"I didn't pull you away from the bookcase." Egon said.

"It wasn't me." Peter answered when I looked at him, "I didn't even know you were behind me. I thought you had gone into a different aisle."

I looked to Ray, but he shook his head, "I would of, if I knew, but it wasn't me either."

"But… But… There was something that pulled me out of the way of that book case." I told them, looking back at the fallen bookcase. Peter looked at me as if I had just lost it. "I'm serious. It happened too quickly for me to do it myself."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, Anna."

"I'm not lying."

"Of course not, Anna." He replied, and then looked at Ray, changing the subject back to the bookcase, "This happen to you before?" Ray shook his head. "First time?" Ray nodded. "Huh."

Egon started to move again. Peter went ahead of us.

"Something pulled me out of the way." I stared at the bookcase confused.

Ray took my hand, "We'll check the tapes later to see what or who grabbed you." He reassured me, and then we left to catch up with Egon and Peter. Ray let go of my hand as soon as we caught up to them. There was a feeling that left with it, but I'm not sure what it was though. I was probably just imagining it. We followed Egon down the aisles, till suddenly we came to a stop. "It's here." The ghost was female. She looked like she was from the Victorian or Edwardian age. Her dress was nicely fitted and conservative. Her hair was in a tight do in the back of her head. She could pass for Marian from the Music Man. But one thing was for sure, she definitely was here often while she was alive.

"A full torso apparition...it's real…" Ray exclaimed in a hushed tone.

"So what do we do?" Peter asked us, we kept staring at the ghost. "Could you come over and talk to me for a second, please?"

Peter grabbed Ray's and pulled him back into the aisle. Egon followed, I did not. I don't know what it was that made me want to do this. Call it intuition, fascination – not thinking things through – but whatever it was, it led me to the ghost instead. "What are you reading?" I asked in a hushed tone remembering my library manners.

The lady looked down at me. She looked my age, if not a bit younger. Tilting her head in surprise and confusion, but then with a smile, she answered, "Jane Austen's Persuasion."

"Have you read it before?"

"Yes. It's one of my favorites. I do not have the money to buy it, so I come and read it whenever I get a chance to." She replied with a smile.

I nodded, "Good reason to come, it's a lovely novel. One of her best..."

"Which one do you think is her best if is not Persuasion?"

"I believe I would have to say either Sense and Sensibility or Pride and Prejudice. I do love Emma though. That one is just as lovely. What am I saying? Jane Austen does not have a best novel, because they are all absolutely lovely."

"I would have to agree with you on that point." She giggled and then asked, "Do you spend a lot of time here?"

I took a book from one of the shelves my fingers lightly tracing the cover of the book with a hidden smile on my face remembering the past. I looked closer at the book I was holding, it was my mother's favorite, The Tales of Sherlock Holmes, it was the copy I had checked out so many years ago and it still smelled of her perfume. I sat down on the floor. "When I was little, I had my brother come with me every Sunday afternoon here. I would spend all afternoon reading while my brother would go off gallivanting with his friends. And then every Sunday evening, an hour before the library closed I would have a stack of books I didn't finish, before my brother and his friends came to pick me up, to check out. My mother would read them to me and my sister before we went to sleep and then sing to us afterward. I spilled a bottle of her perfume all over a library book, this one actually, and the carpet when I was nine. They were soaked, and forever smelled of vanilla, like she did…. I used to check out the book and lie on that carpet. And oh how I missed her when she went away on trips to London… She died seven years later…from a disease. My sister and I were sent off to a boarding school in England. I stayed there for a long time...this is the first time I've moved back since…" I felt something wet stream down my cheeks like a rain. Tears… The lady was sitting next to me, looking at me sadly, but completely entranced in my tale.

"I never knew my mum…I wish I did…What is it like?" She asked almost curiously, but not happily curious, more of in a sad wonder.

"A mother is the most wonderful person in the world. She's the helping hand that guides you along whether you're right or wrong; she's always one step behind, supporting whatever you do. Honestly, it's really hard to remember a time when she wasn't there for us. I always could depend on her. I took her for granted, I realized that when she was gone… I'm really not explaining this right."

 **Peter's POV**

"What do we do?" I asked them when we got into the corner. Egon pulled out his scanner. I hit the scanner, "Will you stop that?"

"We gotta make contact." Ray suggested, "One of us should try to speak to it."

"Good idea." Egon agreed.

"Speaking of one of us, where's Anna?" I asked them. We all looked back at where the ghost was to find Anna speaking to the ghost as if it were a normal person. Egon's jaw dropped. Ray's eyes widened. I had a combination of the two. "What are they talking about?"

Ray started taking pictures of them talking.

"Vanilla perfume and a soaked carpet." Egon said picking up bits and pieces.

Ray shook his head and corrected him, "She spilled a bottle of perfume on the carpet in the house you were living in while you were growing up. The book and the carpet were soaked." He remarked, he continued before I had a chance to comment, "You and I knocked into her and she spilt the bottle. We, well you actually, cause I wasn't the one who collided into her, you didn't get in trouble for knocking her over because she took the blame for everything. When you went outside to meet Egon…"

"What did you do Ray?" I asked him sarcastically serious tone. He shrugged and kept taking pictures. He started to turn red, which didn't make me too happy. "I think I'd really like to hear what you did, Ray."

He stopped a little fearfully and replied, "I dried the book with a blow dryer. When I went to return it, she was crying because she felt bad, so I stayed with her instead of meeting you guys." He replied. I could tell from his eyes he left something out, but I let that drop. I rolled my eyes, Ray had always had some feelings toward Anna. He had never acted upon them, unlike Egon, who had no problems going after my other sister, Anna's twin, Sarah, when we were young.

"What are we going to do about what she's doing now?" I asked. Ray went back to taking pictures of her. I rolled my eyes. "Egon, you get her attention and get her over her, and then I'll talk to the apparition."

Egon went down the aisle a ways and called for Anna.

 **Anna's POV**

"Anna!" I heard someone call my name, it sounded like Egon. I looked at the lady; she looked frustrated by the noise. I gave her a small smiled. "I apologize profusely about my friend's manners, but I must go. I had a lovely time chatting with you-"

"My name is Emmaline." Her frustrated look melted away and she smiled at me sincerely, "What is your name?"

"Anna."

"It was lovely speaking with you also, Anna."

"Goodbye." I smiled and went off to find the guys. Ray pulled me gently into the aisle they were in.

"What were you thinking?" Peter asked.

"I-"

"Save it, I can already tell you weren't."

"I didn't do anything wrong. Emmaline's nice-" Peter had left.

"Who's Emmaline?" Ray asked.

I turned to face Ray, "The lady apparition, her name is Emmaline. She was around my age and she loves books-"

Then I heard Peter, "I'm Peter. Where are you from…originally?" He asked Emmaline too loudly. She shushed him and went back to reading Persuasion. Ray and Egon were taking pictures of the whole thing. Peter came back in the aisle.

"The usual stuff isn't working." Peter said.

"Yelling at her from across the room didn't work?" I retorted, rolling my eyes, "I wonder why?"

"I got it!" Ray exclaimed, "I have a plan."

"I'm going to stay here and sit out this one, if you guys don't mind." I replied leaning against the bookcase. I still had the book in my hand.

"I'd rather you stayed anyway, Anna, so nothing happens to you in case the plan fails." Ray replied. He was always the one to look out for me, especially when we were kids, more so than Peter. I nodded and watched Yogi Bear and his two Boo Boo's go off.

"Get Her!" Ray yelled. I immediately did a facepalm. I looked out to see what happened. Emmaline turned into a huge skeleton, heck that even scared the bejeezus outta me. It sent them running in my direction. Ray ran ahead terrified, Egon grabbed my hand and rushed us out of there with Peter close behind.

"You see it?" One of the workers called as we all rushed out the door, "What was it?"

"We'll get back to you!" Peter answered. We ran halfway way down the street. Egon and I started to walk. He let go of my hand quickly.

"Sorry, for holding on to your hand for so long. Ray was going to grab you, but I think he got sidetracked by his fear." Egon said embarrassed. If I had been Sarah, I doubt he would have been as embarrassed as he was now.

I laughed, "It's okay, Egon." We were silent for a while as he checked some of the things on his device. I looked up at Peter and Ray talking.

"He knows." Egon said after a while.

"Huh?" I looked at him utterly confused.

"Peter knows about what Ray did the day you spilt the perfume bottle." Egon clarified.

"How?"

Egon sighed, "He got it outta Ray when we were in the aisle. He told Peter about spending the afternoon with you and drying the book." I smiled to myself thinking about what he had done. "The story he gave sounded like it was missing the ending. I'm not going to ask you what it is, I just wanted to let you know. If you need to talk about anything, I'll be there for you, for anything, except if you need a place to crash. You're crashing with Ray, it's already decided. Peter's apartment is for one. I'm working on an experiment with mold and my apartment is infested with it, it would be a health hazard for you, given your severe allergy. Ray has a house that is too big for him."

"He's living in the house he grew up in, isn't he?"

Egon nodded and then looked at his device as we caught up to the other two. "I wouldn't say the experience was completely wasted." He told us, "According to these new readings, I think we have an excellent chance of catching a ghost and holding it indefinitely."

"She's actually nice if you talk to her like a normal person." I commented, "It wouldn't make sense to contain her."

"We won't." Ray promised, "I'm a little too scared to go back anyway." Ray walked ahead with Egon and I, "This is great though. If the ionization rate for all ectoplasmic entities, we could really bust some heads, in a spiritual sense, of course."

Peter ran to catch up with us, "Are you serious about this catching ghosts?"

"I'm always serious." Egon replied.

"Egon, I'm gonna take back some of the things I said about you." Pete commented.

"What have you been saying about Egon?" I asked him.

"You've earned it." Peter told Egon, ignoring me, and giving him something.

"Do I want to know what he's been saying?" I asked Ray. He shook his head.

Ray and I started to talk about catching ghosts and the science of it as we all headed back to the university. "The possibilities are limitless." He exclaimed as we walked through the door of their department. "Hey Dean Yager." Ray greeted the Dean. The Dean looked up and turned around. Boxes were everywhere. Guys were moving things out.

"I trust your moving us to better quarters on campus." Peter guessed, observing the men moving things out.

"No. You're being moved off campus." The Dean stated, "The Board of Regents has decided to abort your grant. You are to vacate these premises immediately."

Peter closed his eyes and said, "This is preposterous. I demand an explanation immediately."

"Fine." Dean Yager agreed, "This University will no longer continue any funding of any kind for your group's activities."

"The kids love us." Peter said.

'I guess he hasn't noticed the 'Burn in hell, Venkman' on the door of the paranormal studies office.' I thought.

The Dean sat down on one of the tables. "Dr. Venkman, we believe the purpose of science is to serve mankind. You, however, seem to regard science as some kind of dodge or hustle. Your theories are the worst kind of popular tripe. Your methods are sloppy and your conclusions are highly questionable. You are a poor scientist, Dr. Venkman."

Peter nodded, "I see."

"You have no place in this department or in this university." The Dean stated before turning, we excused ourselves from the department office.


	3. The One After the Boys Get Fired

**Chapter Three: The One After the Boys Get Fired**

"This is a major disgrace." Ray said as he paced back and forth. It was just the three of us, Egon had went home to work on his experiments. Peter and I watched Ray pace. Peter was sitting on top of a hand rail of the stairway to the museum, I was leaning against the rail. "Forget MIT or Stanford now. They would touch us with a ten meter cattle prod-" Ray continued.

"You're always so concerned about your reputation." Peter cut him off. Ray stopped pacing.

"That's not a bad thing, you know." I retorted in Ray's defense, "You should be more concerned with yours, instead of making fun of him for it."

"Einstein did his best work as a patent clerk." Peter commented.

"Do you know how much a patent clerk earns?" Ray asked.

"No." Peter scoffed.

"They probably earn a lot more that we do right now." I muttered.

Ray started paring again. "Personally, I liked the university. They gave us money and facilities. We didn't have to produce anything."

"Ray, would you stop pacing?" I asked him. He always paced when he was upset. It was one of his bad habits. He would use to always end up getting a headache from it when he did it for too long. "It's only going to make you feel worse."

He nodded, stopped pacing, and then continued at Peter, "You've never been out of college. You don't know what it's like out there. I've worked in the private sector." He shrugged, "They expect results."

Peter hopped off of the rail, "For whatever reasons, call it fate, call it luck," He put an arm around each of our shoulders, "call it karma"

"Being fired…" I stated the actual reason quietly. Ray nodded in acknowledgement of the real reason.

Peter ignored my comment and continued, "I believe everything happens for a reason. I believe we were destined to be thrown out of this dump."

"For what purpose?" Ray asked.

"To go into business for ourselves." Peter said handing him the bottle of whiskey.

Ray took a drink and then replied, "This ecto-containment system that Spengler and I have in mind is going to require a load of brandy capitalize. Where are we going to get the money?" Ray handed the bottle back to Peter.

Peter took a drink and then replied, "I don't know... I don't know…"

"We'll think of something tomorrow. I'm sure we'll think of something after we've had sleep…" I replied, "Speaking of sleeping? Where am I crashing until I find a place?"

"With me..." Ray answered, his face reddening a bit, "You wanna go now? I bet you're tired. There's a six hour difference between here and England…"

"Yeah…" I replied.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow then." Peter said.

I nodded, "Yeah, bye Pete."

"Good night, Anna. See ya, Ray."

"Bye Pete." Ray said. He and I caught a cab, he told them the address and we left.

 **Ray's POV**

"I'm surprised you didn't tell him." She commented.

"Tell who what?"

"Tell Peter the whole story when he got it out of you in the library…" Anna replied, "Egon told me about it. He doesn't know either."

"There are some things they don't-"

"Need to know." We finished together.

"Like how that story actually ended." I said, "You kissed me, and then you and the book went down the stairs as soon as your mother left for her business trip."

She smiled lightly and somewhat sadly at the memory, and replied sleepily, "The carpet was still wet, but it smelled just like her…" She fell asleep on my shoulder. I put an arm around her and pulled her closer to me.

As the car pulled up in front of the house, I reluctantly woke Anna. She had been sleeping soundly the whole ride. It was the most angelic and peaceful I've ever seen her look. She looked up at me wide eyed and groggy, "Are we there?"

"Yeah..." I answered. I paid the driver and opened my door. I got out and then helped her out of the cab. I shut the door and the cab went off.

"How about we get you something to eat before you go back to sleep," I suggested, "we could catch up and you wouldn't go back to sleep on empty stomach. You know what happens when you do that."

 **Anna's POV**

I had nightmares when I went to bed on an empty stomach and would wake up with pain everywhere. "Yeah I do…How did you remember that?"

"Probably the same way you remembered about the pacing." He replied with a smiled. I looked down as I felt my face heat up. We went inside the house. He closed the door behind us. We went into the kitchen.

"I don't have any food here. I've been-"

"Living off of take out?" I asked.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Just a feeling, and the empty sink was a tip off. You used to always have at least one or two dishes in the sink." I replied.

"You remember that?" He raised an eyebrow, "You haven't had take-out in a long time, have you?"

"No, I've been working on my culinary skills." I replied with a laugh. I shook my head, "We've known each other a long time, haven't we?"

"Since you were five…You followed me and Pete to our tree house. As much as Pete tried to make you leave-"

"I wouldn't go…" I finished remembering that summer. After a few days they accepted me in to the group and I became one of the boys. We met Egon a few months later. He was trying to start a fire with a magnifying glass. After a little of time and persuasion from me, Egon was a part of our group. As the weeks went by Ray, Pete and Egon got closer and I would spend my Sundays at the library and they would run around central park. After Sarah and I started our schooling at Abbey Mount School for Girls in England, I could only see them in the summer. Egon and Sarah would spend their summers together doing who knows what, and Pete, Ray, and I would spend our summers together. We'd play baseball and run around New York City just the three of us. I was always so excited to comeback…

"Anna?" Ray pulled me away from my thoughts.

"Huh?"

"You didn't hear what I just said, did you?" He asked.

"No, I'm sorry." I replied, "Can you say it again?"

"What type of food are you in the mood for?" He asked me.

"What are you in the mood for?" I asked him. I really didn't care what we ate.

"Pizza or Chinese…"

"Why don't we get of both?" I suggested, "We'll get something we both like and share."

He smiled, "Sounds like a plan to me." He got the menu for Lombardi's Pizza, one for Chinatown Brasserie, and a note pad and paper.

"I love these places!" I exclaimed.

"I remember." He replied.

"Chinatown Brasserie…" I picked up the menu looking at it. It hadn't changed much, "Do you remember the first time we ever went to that place?"

"Yeah, you were sixteen, I was eighteen. It was summer, you had just came back from a year at school. It was just you and me that night. Peter was on a date and Egon was working on an experiment with Sarah."

"Which you and I both know, the only types of experiments they would ever do together were ones of a biological nature." I smirked.

"Probably." He smiled, "Anyway, you had mentioned that you had never been out on a date."

"And you took me to the Chinese Brasserie…." I smiled.

"How much money do you have on you?" He asked.

"Converted all the pounds I had to dollars yesterday. So I have around two hundred on hand." I replied.

"So dinner's on you, I'm guessing."

"Sure." I agreed, and then added, "You're making breakfast though."

"That I can do. What are we getting?"

"Anything but seafood." I replied.

"You still hate it?"

I nodded, "Let's see…Pot-stickers?"

"Do you even have to ask?" He replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. I wrote down pork potstickers on the notepad. "Don't go nuts on the order. We have a pizza to get too."

"Right!" I agreed looking at the menu, "Beef Lo Mein…Two or one order?"

"One." Ray answered. I nodded and it down, "And an order of peeking duck. I know you like duck."

"I don't eat cucumbers though." I replied.

"I do!" He replied. I wrote down the order.

"And then pork fried rice." I said finishing the list. We always got pork fried rice. "And that comes to?" I asked him what the math was for the price.

"It'll be 80 just for the food alone there." Ray answered, "So we might just want to take a 100 with us."

"Okay for the pizza…Definitely 14''." I said writing it down.

"Why the small one?" He asked. I looked at him like he was out of his ever loving mind.

"Did you see the list of Chinese food?" I asked, "And you told me not to go nuts…Toppings?"

"Pepperoni, Sausage, Meatballs, and extra mozzarella." He replied as if by heart.

"Salad?" I asked.

"If we must…"

"Cesar salad for me then." I replied, writing it all down.

"You're not going to share?"

"No." I answered, "What does that come to?"

"31 dollars even. And it's free delivery." He replied, "Drinks at all?"

"Yeah, water." I replied. "Who's getting the pizza and who's getting the Chinese?"

"I got the Chinese, you get the pizza." He replied. I handed him the list and the dough, and he headed out the door. I got the phone from off the counter and ordered the pizza.

By the time Ray came back with the Chinese, the pizza had just been delivered.

"I think we've got everything." Ray commented, looking at all of the phone, "We're probably going to have leftovers for a few days. "What do you want to start with?"

"I just have to get one more thing." I told him, smiling, "I'll be right back." I went to the room I was staying in to go through one of my suitcases. I pulled the suitcase from underneath the bed and opened it, taking out one of the presents I brought back for Ray, a large twelve bottle case of some of the best beers and ales from the United Kingdom, wrapped in packing paper. I brought it out to the kitchen and set it down on the table. "I brought this back from the UK for you and I thought we might want to open this tonight." I told him. He looked at the present curiously, before proceeding to open it. His eyes lit up when he saw what was inside.

"So, which one do you want to try first?" He asked excitedly.

"I'm personally a fan of Guinness, but you decide, they're your present."

Six bottles later, half a pizza was gone, and most of the Chinese food had been eaten, and we were sitting on the couch, completely smashed, talking about life, and when we were kids, and the memories we had of each other and the others.

"Why didn't you ever ask me out?" I asked Ray curiously, plastered enough to have the courage to actually question him about it, "Like to try to really date?" I clarified, starting to doubt myself as I watched his reaction to the question. His eyes widened, the question catching him off guard. He tried a few times to start a sentence, but nothing came out.

After a few moments, he replied, looking down, "I never thought you would have wanted to. I loved you, I didn't want to lose our friendship if things didn't work out or if you turned me down."

I moved closer to him and tilted his head up so he would be looking at me. I think it was a combination of the alcohol, the genuine look in his eyes, and the desire to do this for years, I kissed him soundly. As I started to pull away, so I could apologize, but he pulled me back to him, kissing me deeply. My arms snaked around his neck as he started to lean back on the couch, pulling me on top of him. I pulled away for air, I looked down at Ray and smiled. I'm sure we had the same look in our eyes that I could see in his, a look of desire and yearning, "Let's go to bed, Ray." I got up off of him slowly.

He nodded, solemnly, "You're right."

"I know I am, we'd have more room on a bed." I pointed out. The smile he had before quickly returned to his face. "So, which room is closer, your room or mine?"

"Mine."


	4. The One with the Cafe

**Chapter Four: The One with the Café**

 _'Ugh, my head…'_ I sighed, rubbing my temples, _'What the hell happened last night?'_ I groaned as the sun hit my eyes. The sound of someone softly snoring pulled me out of my thoughts, I looked down to see Ray. _'Hello Ray…'_ I shook my head as memories from last night started to flood back into my mind. "I am never drinking that much again." I told myself, knowing the words were empty. I was well aware it would happen again eventually. At least, I was still somewhat dressed, so we didn't actually sleep together, well we did, but not in that way. Ray's phone started to ring. I shook him awake, so he could get the phone. He looked at me in surprise.

"We can talk about our current position, after you get the phone." I told him, before he got the phone.

"Alright, Pete." Ray nodded after a few moments, "I'll get Anna and we'll be there in twenty minutes." He hung up the phone. "We have to meet up with Pete at the bank, he's got a plan."

"And that would be?"

"Getting another mortgage on the house to fund a ghost catching business." He replied sheepishly.

"On what house?" I asked him, "On this house?"

He nodded.

"So, his plan is to possibly screw you over by putting you in debt to fund a ghost busting business that might or might not work?"

"I believe so."

"Do you think it will work?" I asked him hopefully.

"I would like it to."

"Then it will." I smiled, "I believe in you guys."

A few moments passed in awkward silence.

"About last night…" Ray started.

"We had a lot to drink." I pointed out.

"We did." He agreed, "But was that all it was?"

"I care about you, Ray, more than I do most people." I told him honestly, "If we move forward, I don't know how it will turn out. We would be putting a lot at risk."

I had watched Sarah and Egon date for years, they had always been so close. They had been good friends before Egon had the gulls to ask her out on a date. Their whole relationship fell apart when they broke up. Their friendship was dissolved, even though the break-up was completely amicable, they couldn't face each other afterwards. I had always thought it was because they thought they had made a mistake in separating, because both of them regretted not being the one to make the big gesture. Egon could have gone with her back to London or Sarah could have stayed in New York, one of them could have made the choice to stay with the other. Now faced with the decision of risk myself, I was clueless of what to do myself.

"So, are you saying that you don't want-" He started to ask, but I cut him off.

"No, I don't know." I replied simply, "I think we should probably take some time to think about what we want and everything that comes along with it."

"Okay." He nodded.

"I'm gonna go shower." I got up from the bed, "Where-"

"Third door on the left." He answered before I could ask him.

"Thank you, Ray." I replied softly. I went to go get clothes and then get in the shower.

 **Ray's POV**

My back flopped down on the bed discontented. I already knew what I wanted, what I've always wanted, it's never changed; I have always wanted her. Why couldn't I have told her that? Why couldn't I have just told her that I was in love with her? That I had been in love with her since we were teenagers. That I've had feelings for her since we were kids. That I wasn't that drunk last night. That I was only buzzed at best and the only reason we didn't sleep together was because I couldn't do that to her. It would have been wrong to make love to her under those circumstances.

 **Sarah's POV**

"Why am I here, Pete?" I asked him confused when I met him for coffee, "You had me book a flight from London to New York for a reason, what is it?"

"Can't a brother just want to say hi and visit with his sister?" He asked smiling.

"You said it was urgent and I had to be on the first direct flight to stay here indefinitely." I retorted, "Unless someone is dead, dying, or in prison, I do not know why I am here and you better have a better reason other than wanting to visit."

"I want you to help with a business venture." He stated, still keeping his humor about him.

"Fuck, Pete." I groaned, standing to leave. Maybe if I was lucky, I could get a flight back.

"I see I came at a bad time." Someone noted, I looked up to see who it was to find Egon standing before me. "Hello Sarah." He smiled sadly.

"Egon…" I greeted, at a loss words.

"Your timing is fine, Egon." Peter told him nonchalantly, "Have a seat." He added, before looking back at me, "Going somewhere, Sarah?"

"Yeah, to try to get a flight back, so I can beg for my job back with Scotland Yard." I retorted.

"And you don't have enough money on you to get back at the moment, so why don't you sit and listen to what I have to say and if you don't like it, you can say no."

"Great, but your proposition still leaves me stuck here with no job, little money, and nowhere to live." I pointed out annoyed.

"You're still angry with me, which is justified, but I'd rather you be open minded-"

"Which is why Egon is here." I cut him off, starting to piece things together, "I am less likely to try to kill you with him here, not that I think he would pull me off of you until after I've successfully knocked you out."

"Egon wouldn't do that to me." Peter replied.

"I'm not choosing sides." Egon commented, and then added, "And when I did, I do not remember choosing your side, Peter."

"You know what, why don't you two talk and I'm going to go get another coffee." Peter stood and went inside the café.

"I didn't know he was going to trick you into coming back to New York, I would have told Anna to warn you." Egon stated.

"I know, Egon." I replied, sitting next to him, "What is this business venture you guys are going into?"

"Catching ghosts." He replied simply.

"Well, that's definitely original." I nodded, "Why would I be needed?"

"From what I've read, you are a brilliant forensic analyst, there could be many ways you could be helpful." Egon told me, "And there's that other ability of yours that might come in handy if you were to choose to stay."

I sighed, knowing he was right about the second part. My abilities would come in handy if I were to stay at least for a while; there was no harm in seeing what they were going to do. I was already out of a job. "You know what, I'll agree to stay for a while and help start this business, if you agree to tell me honestly why you tried to drill a hole through your head a few years ago."

"Peter told you about that?"

"Him and Ray." I nodded, "Why Egon? What could have possessed you to drill a hole through your head? That would have killed you."

"It was an experiment."

"Egon, you would have died, if Pete and Ray let you go through with it." I narrowed my eyes at his answer, I knew him better than that. There was more to it than the answer, than the answer he decided to give. "Why would you do that? Why would you-"

"Why does it matter?" He replied frustrated. He wasn't expecting them to have told me or for me to ask him about it. He never expected to see me again.

"I care about you!" I retorted, the insides of me crying out the actual reason of why I cared so much, I was still in love with him after all of these years.

"Then why did you leave?" He asked pointedly.

I looked down, "It doesn't matter-"

"I loved you." Egon replied seriously, "It matters."

"Why didn't you ask me to stay when I told you about the position?"

"I didn't know I had to."

"You just assumed I would stay?"

"No." He shook his head, "I knew you would leave for the job, there wouldn't have been anything I could have said to keep you here."

"'I love you, would you consider staying here with me' would have worked fine." I pointed out, "'Marry me' or 'Move in with me' would have probably worked better. We had been dating almost eight years, I would have stayed with you if you had said something other than 'I think you should take it' when I told you about it." I scanned his face, my eyes full of worry, "Am I the reason you tried to drill a hole through your head?"

"No!" He replied quickly, noticing the look and tone I had, taking my hands in his out of old habit, "You have nothing to do with that experiment."

"Then why?"

"Morbid curiosity caused me to have a lapse in judgement." He replied softly, "It won't happen again."

"You guys ready to go?" Peter asked us as he came over. He had his coffee in a to-go cup, so he wouldn't have to stay at the café longer than he had to. "I told Ray I'd meet him at the bank."

"Yeah, I'm going to go find somewhere to stay for the foreseeable future and I'll meet you guys later." I replied, standing.

"Actually, Sarah, if you don't mind, I'd like you to get us a real-estate agent." Peter spoke up, "We're gonna need some place to work."

"Fine." I sighed, "After I find myself a hotel to stay at." I added before I left the café.


	5. The One Where They Move

**Chapter Five: The One Where They Move into the Firehouse**

 **Anna's POV**

"You're never going to regret this, Ray." Peter told him as we left the bank.

"My parents left me that house." Ray argued, "I was born there."

"You're not going to lose the house." Peter assured him, "Everybody has three mortgages these days."

"I don't think they do, Pete." I tried to argue.

"You've been living overseas for too long, Anna." Peter replied, "It's very common here to have multiple mortgages."

"But at nineteen percent?" Ray questioned. "You didn't even try to bargain with the guy."

"Ray, for your information, the interest rate alone for the first five years comes to about ninety-five thousand dollars." Egon spoke up, showing him the calculator with the interest added up.

"Nice going, Peter." I shot him, "You've basically just screwed him over."

"Will you guys relax?" Peter asked us, "We are on the threshold of a establishing the indefensible science of the next decade: Professional Paranormal Investigations and Eliminations. The franchise rights alone will make as rich beyond our wildest dreams."

"And if it doesn't work, Peter?" I asked him, making sure he had a backup plan.

"We don't have to worry about that." He answered, confirming what I had suspected. He had no back up plan. He turned to Egon, "Any ideas if the real-estate agent got back to us yet?"

"What are you going to do, Ray?" I asked him, tuning out Peter and Egon's conversation.

"I don't know." He replied, "I don't have this type of money."

"You know, if both of us pull our funds, we might have better chance of paying for this." I suggested, "Even if this doesn't work out, which I'm not saying that it will, I'm just saying you might want to have a back-up plan."

"I know." He nodded in understanding, "You don't have to-"

"I want to, Ray." I insisted, "Peter royally screwed you over, let me help you."

"Anna-" He started.

"Let me help you, Ray." I repeated.

"Okay." He conceded.

"Hurry up, you two." Peter called after us, "The real-estate agent's been waiting for us for the past twenty minutes."

"What do you mean waiting for us?" I asked confused, "How did you-"

"I sent someone ahead to get a head-start on looking at properties, they just got back to Egon a half an hour ago."

"How?" I asked confused.

Peter smiled, "Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answers to, Anna."

"I think I want to know, Peter." I replied, but he ignored me and kept walking, "Pete!"

"It's not worth it, Anna." Ray replied calmly, "We might as well just catch up to him and see for ourselves what's going on."

The piece of property ended up being three level abandoned fire house, equipped with a full kitchen, sleeping quarters, an office, and so on. I had sort of stopped listening to the real-estate agent, there was nothing that she could tell me that I couldn't see with my own eyes. My focus was on trying to get the feel and energy for this place.

"It just seems a little pricy for a unique fixer-upper opportunity, that's all." Peter ended up telling her, before asking for Egon's two cents, "What do you think, Egon?"

"I think this building should be condemned." Egon answered, walking away from the woman with Peter, and started to list off all of the things wrong with the firehouse structurally.

"Hey, does this pole still work?" Ray asked amused, before sliding down it. "Wow! This place is great!" He exclaimed, before asking the lady, "When can we move in?" And then added back to the three of us, "You've gotta try this pole."

"I'm good." I responded. Egon and Peter looked down knowing he had sealed our fate on buying the place.

"I'm gonna go get my stuff!" He exclaimed before running up the stairs, "We should stay here tonight, sleep here. You know, to try it out." He added before going upstairs.

"What do you think, Anna?" Peter asked.

I sighed, "I'm with Egon, but you did use Ray's house to fund this, so I think it's only fair for him to pick the place."

"I think he's decided on one." Peter replied.

"Well then, it looks like we've got a lot of work ahead of us." I told him, before running up the stairs to catch up with Ray.

Sarah's POV

"So, what do you guys think?" I asked Peter and Egon as I came into the firehouse.

"Ray loves it." Peter spoke up.

"I knew he would." I responded, "You two don't though."

"It's not suitable for our needs." Egon commented.

"Is that fixable?"

"Well yes, but I don't know how much that's going to cost us." He replied, "Or how much work is going to be needed to make it suitable."

"That can be worked out." I shrugged, "We're all brilliant, we can figure out something."

"I think we'll take it." Peter told Susan, the real-estate agent.

"Good." She smiled and then they went off to talk about buying the firehouse.

"Ever find a hotel?" Egon asked after few moments.

"No." I shook my head, "All of the ones I looked at were either overpriced or completely booked."

"No apartments available?"

"The ones I liked were too expensive and the ones I could afford at the moment were not in areas that I thought I would want to live."

"Sounds like you'll be living here for the time being."

"From what I heard, all of us will be living here for a bit."

Anna's POV

"You really sure about this place?" I asked Ray as we walked around the second level of the firehouse. The building, the longer I stayed inside, just had an off feeling about it. I hadn't seen anything or anyone yet, but I could sense that there was more than just us here.

"This is it, Anna." He nodded, "This is the right place for us."

"Well, as long as you like it." I replied looking around the office space.

"Don't you?" He smiled excitedly. Liking the place was not my immediate reaction, but I liked his reaction to it. So, I guess you could say in a way I did like it.

"I like how much you like it." I replied honestly, reaching out to touch his hand. I felt another hand pull mine away. I looked down at my hand, but there was nothing there. 'Now that, that would describe the off-feeling.' I thought trying to connect the dots.

"You okay?" He asked slightly concerned.

"Yeah," I gave him a thoughtful smile, "I think you might have picked the perfect place for this business." I reached out for his hand again, deciding to ignore the other presence in the room, "Maybe we should go get something to eat, like dinner or something, to celebrate."

"We could go now." Ray suggested.

"Alright." I agreed.

"You wanna try out the firepole?"

I shook my head, "I think I'll take the stairs." I headed to the stairs to meet him on the lower level.

Sarah's POV

"Sarah!"

I knew exactly who was calling my name even before I turned around to see her standing on the stairs. It was still surprising for me to see her there.

"Anna!"

She ran down the rest of the stairs and hugged me, "I didn't know you were coming."

"Neither did I until yesterday." I replied as she let go.

"What do you mean?" She asked confused.

"It's not important." I answered. I wasn't going to bring her in the middle of that; she should think as well as she can of Peter, even if he's an asshole. I changed the subject, "So, how are you? Still seeing things that aren't there?" I asked, not in demeaning way, more in a joking manner that was quiet enough for only the two of us could hear. We both knew what the other could do. She was a sensitive, who could communicate with the dead, feel, and see them, depending on the spirit, as they were before they passed on. I did not share this ability, on the other hand, I was an empath. I could feel others emotions and energies, whether they're living or deceased, as long as they had a presence. At least, that was the simple definition of what both of us could do. Not that we were limitless, we had our bounds and constraints. Egon, Ray, and Peter though, they didn't know. And with their new business, I was in no hurry to tell them.

"Still feeling other people's feelings?" She countered my question in a hushed tone.

"I feel enough to know I don't want to know whatever's going on between you and Ray." I answered.

"We're just friends." She quickly dismissed the idea, but not out of disgust, it was a much different emotion entirely. She very much liked the idea of being with him, but she never pursued a relationship with him. It wasn't exactly out of fear, although there was a hint of that in her tone, but it was more of 'what if it didn't work' instead of fear of him. Although, I couldn't see anyone being scared of Ray, he's kind of a big kid. He's a bit of a goof, but that's just who he is, who he's always been. Anna's always loved that about him and would miss that and their friendship if a relationship didn't work out. She had doubt and fear lingering in her mind, she wouldn't make a real move if she were sober. He would have to step up, which wasn't going to happen anytime soon either for similar reasons. If she were slightly, then I could see her trying something, but for now they were just friends.

"Everything about you has always said differently," I sighed, "but I am not going into that with you again."

"Good cause I'd rather you didn't." She replied, "I know what I'm doing."

'No, you don't.' I thought, but didn't say a word to contradict her, 'I didn't know what I was doing either, but I also ended up with Alice.'

"Ray and I are going to get some food, you could come with us if you'd like." She offered.

"I'm okay," I declined, "You guys have fun."

"Alright, I'll bring you something on our way back." She replied, before going over to Ray, and then they both left.

"Sarah, I've got to hand it to you." Susan said as she came over to me, "I've never sold a property this quickly."

"What can I say, I saw something in it that suited our needs." I replied, "Maybe you could return the favor and find me an apartment near Battery Park or the Upper West Side that's affordable."

"That's impossible." She laughed lightly, thinking I was joking.

"Susan, you are so good at doing the impossible," I smiled, "I'm sure you can find me something."

"I'll see what I can do." She reluctantly agreed and left.

"You just sent her on a fool's errand." Egon spoke up first.

"Yeah, but it will be interesting to see what she come up with."

"You could just live here." Peter pointed out.

"I could." I agreed, looking at him, "But then I'd have to see you every day."

Peter smirked, "That wouldn't be too bad after a while."

"I need somewhere to stay if this going to be a permanent thing."

"You're going to stay?" Peter asked, his eyebrows raising.

"I'm going to see how everything goes here for the next few weeks," I answered, "if everything goes well, I'll get everything I need from London and move here."

"I'm gonna go look into what we can to start fixing this place up." Egon left.

"How's Alice?" Peter changed the subject; talking about her was the only time I ever saw a softer side of him anymore.

"She's good." I replied, "She's doing really well in school and she's happy. Before I came over here, I had been talking to the school about her possibly skipping a grade."

"You know, I knew she'd be smart. I mean with you and Egon-"

I looked down at the mention of Egon, "He still doesn't know"

"You never told him?" Peter asked incredulously, "He needs to know."

"Well, when I figure out a way to tell him, I will."

"You've had five years."

"I know."

"Try to tell him before you bring Alice here." Peter left to go upstairs.

I sighed and looked around, "That's the plan; I just hope he doesn't hate me afterward." I went upstairs to explore the rest of the firehouse, since I'd possibly be spending quite a lot of time here for a while.


	6. The One Where Egon Finds Out

Chapter Six: The One Where Egon Finds Out

"So, I'll take the legal, environmental, and the bills." I told Anna as we were trying to figure what we can do to help the guys.

"You suck at math." She pointed out, "We might want to leave the bills to the guys."

"We do that, they don't get paid on time." I pointed out, "I'll get an accountant, there's one who lives a few doors down from me."

I had been a little surprised by Susan, who had found me a pretty nice place a few days after I had asked her. I was able to move in a week after she had found the apartment.

"Okay, I'll take on the marketing, advertising, and customer relations." Anna suggested.

"You know that means you have to talk on the phone to people, right?"

"I'm well aware, Sarah." She replied, "That's why I'm looking into getting another person to handle incoming calls from customers."

"So that person will handle customer relations as the receptionist?"

"Exactly." She nodded.

"Exactly, what?" Peter asked as he came in the kitchen, taking a seat at the table.

"We need to hire a receptionist." I told him bluntly.

"Fine." He agreed, "I'm not interviewing them though. If you want someone to man the phones instead of yourselves, then you hire them yourselves."

Anna looked at him curiously, "So we could hire some gorgeous dumb hunky guy with a sexy accent and you'd be okay with that?"

"I'd rather you not." Peter replied, "But I would not be the one complaining if you both did. I don't care who you two hire."

"Well, before we hire anyone, we're going to need to do some ads, so we can get your guys' names out there to pay the bills, pay have this place renovated to suit our needs, and be able to pay the person we're going to hire."

"Sarah, you take care of the interviews." Peter told me, "Anna and I will work on the advertising."

They stood from their seats and then headed to the office to figure out some sort of initial ad campaign for us to run for the Ghostbusters. I got up and went to find a phone book to call a temp agency to get prospective new hires to interview.

 **Anna's POV**

It took us all of two minutes to decide to run our advertising through commercials, having newspaper ads as a backup if we didn't generate enough interest through the commercials. Peter agreed to get the deal for the commercial and pull Egon and Ray into doing the commercial with him. In the meantime, we were start renovations on the firehouse and pay for them out of pocket; therefore, when a customer finally came around, we would have somewhere to store the ghost.

"I don't get it." I confided that night to Ray. It was just the two of us in a room we had converted into a makeshift den with a TV with a VCR on a stand with VHS tapes underneath, a couch, and an ottoman that we used as more of a table. At the moment, we were watching An American Werewolf in London.

Ray looked away from the screen to me slightly confused at my abrupt comment, "The movie, how I got you to watch it, or something random not related to the movie at all?"

"The movie I get, the plot is too simple not to. How you got me to watch this is probably because you're you." I brushed off the first two parts of his question, "It's this business that we're starting, it's the Ghostbusters. Why does every ghost have to go into the containment system? Shouldn't there be something that separates the less or not harmful ghosts, who might not need to be contained in this system you and Egon have devised, from the harmful ones that definitely would need to go in one?"

"Wouldn't all ghosts be harmful?"

"Only as much as people are." I answered, "Am I harmful?"

"Depends on who you're angry with." He teased, knowing the answer to the question was no, as the dude's mangled friend in the movie had appeared in a mirror, making me jump into his arms. I closed my eyes, so I wouldn't have to look at the screen anymore.

'How did he even get me to watch this damn movie?' I thought as I hid my head in his chest, feeling like a coward.

"He's gone." Ray told me after a few moments, "The scene is over."

"Thanks Ray." I replied as I started to get off of him.

"You know, the movie gets scarier, you could stay in that position if you want." He proposed. I bit back a smile and leaned back into him.

 **Sarah's POV**

"Egon?" I asked in surprise, I wasn't expecting to see him in the bookshop. He looked away from the book he was holding to me in equal surprise. "It seems like we keep running into each other."

"We work together, it is bound to happen." He answered stoically after regaining his composure.

"It is." I agreed.

"Although, it is slightly out of character for you to be in this section." He remarked as he put the book he was looking at away. We were in the science and technology section. I was heading to the children's section so I could stock the room that was now quickly becoming my library with books for Alice.

"I was passing through to get to another section."

"Which one?"

"Fiction." I answered, which wasn't a lie exactly, the books I would be getting were fiction.

"Which genre?"

"Children's." I replied honestly, "I have someone I wanted to pick up a few books for."

"Wouldn't it make more sense to pick them up when you go back to London?"

"Not really." I responded vaguely, which only confused him. Feeling brave and incredibly guilty, I asked him, "Have you eaten yet?"

"No."

"Do you want to go get something to eat?" I asked him, "There's been something I've been wanting to talk to you about for a while and I think it might be easier to talk about over food."

"Alright." He agreed.

"Greek or Thai?" I suggested. He gave me a pointed look that said I should already know his answer. I smiled softly at seeing that glimpse of Egon I had remembered. "Thai, it is."

 **Anna's POV**

"Next time, I pick the movie." I told Ray as soon as it finished.

"You didn't like it?"

"No." I replied incredulously, "And you lied, you told me it was a comedy."

"It is."

"No, it's not." I argued, "That'd be like me telling you that-" I stopped myself as I came up with a brilliant idea as payback for the film, "Do you want to watch another movie?"

"I can see the gears in your head turning."

"Do you want to watch another movie?" I repeated.

"If you tell me what it is."

"It's a comedy." I replied as I went to get the movies from my room that I had yet to unpack.

"That doesn't tell me anything." He called after me. When I came back with the three movies I had decided to pay Ray back for that horror film with, I found the pizza we had been eating had been cleaned up and put away; there was a gallon of spumoni ice cream and a singular spoon, but no Ray.

"Is this for me?" I asked, setting down the movies and picking up the ice cream container and spoon.

"Is it still your favorite?" Ray asked brining out two drinks.

"It is." I replied as I opened the container, "What are those?"

"It's pineapple juice with a couple of shots of coconut and pineapple rum and aged rum."

"Ray, you are a god!" I smiled excitedly, taking one of the drinks. I put the drink and the ice cream down and picked up the movies again, "Since it's still your night to pick the movie, you can pick between these three." I showed him the movies I had selected: Romancing the Stone, Splash, and An Officer and a Gentleman.

"They're all romances." He pointed out.

"They're comedies." I corrected.

"No, they're not."

"Neither was American Werewolf in London." I replied, "And we agreed that tonight was comedy night, you owe me."

"Fine." He conceded, "You've already put me through watching An Officer and a Gentleman, I'm not watching that again. We watched Splash last weekend; I don't mind the movie, but I'm not watching it with you every weekend. I don't care how much you like Tom Hanks."

"He plays sensitive and funny characters." I replied, "How could someone not love him?"

"I wouldn't know."

"So, Romancing the Stone?"

"Sure." He agreed, "I haven't seen that one yet."

"Great!" I replied, popping the movie in the VCR. I took a sip of the drink, "These are good; it's like a pina colada, but better." I sat down next to him on the couch and picked up the ice cream and spoon. "You wanna share?"

He looked at me if I had lost my mind, "You want to share?"

"Yeah, I don't see why not." I shrugged, "But the cherry part is mine."

He smirked and took the spoon out of my hands, taking a bit of the cherry section and eating it.

"You didn't just do that."

"What are you going to do about it?" He asked as he scooted back to the other side of the couch with my ice cream.

"Ray, we are way too old for this." I replied, climbing over him to try to reach the container, not really giving a shit about the spoon, I could always get another one.

"Kind of ironic how you're saying that while you're climbing on me to get at ice cream." He commented, "I am just as mature as you are at the moment."

"I don't know if that helps either of our arguments or hurts them."

"I don't have an argument at all." He responded almost sounding smug. I looked down at him, noticing the compromising position we were in, and then looked back at the ice cream. I wasn't going to try anything with Ray, not with this place being haunted. I don't mind sleeping here, even with her constant talking.

I sighed, thinking about the ghost who had been trapped here, and got off if him, "I can't do this, not here."

"What do you mean not here?" He asked, knowing that issue wasn't him. Both of us were already past the idea of thinking it was him, it was a thought that would have never come to mind.

"Let's just say we picked the perfect place to run a ghost-catching business."

Ray set down the ice cream, "What's going on, Anna?"

"The firehouse is haunted."

"That's great!" He exclaimed.

"Maybe for you." I replied, without thinking, "You don't have to listen to her."

"You can hear the ghost?"

"Of course, I can; how can you communicate with someone, well vocally, without hearing them?" I answered, and then realized what I was confessing and to whom. For a moment, I had forgotten that I hadn't told Ray about this. I mean he would have some clue you would think with what happened at the library though, right? I had been speaking to an apparition then, but I saw her differently from how the others did.

"The library…" He remarked after a few moments, "You were able to talk to the spirit without her trying to attack you."

"That's because until you guys stepped in, she was pleasant woman, probably a few years younger, than I am, who just wanted to read in a quiet secluded place." I told him, "She died young and the library became her safe place. Not every ghost needs to be locked up, some are just sad, confused, and don't know why they're still here."

"Which is why you were asking about the containment system." He replied in understanding.

"Yeah." I nodded.

 **Sarah's POV**

"What was it you wanted to tell me earlier?" Egon asked.

We had finally had gotten back around to the subject, I had gotten through picking up Thai, going back to my apartment, and eating dinner without breaching the subject. I had come close to having to tell him when we had come into my apartment, he had asked about the extra rooms I had, but I was able to avoid the question. It had finally caught up to me and I had lost all my nerve to tell him. I couldn't figure out where to start or even find the words to tell him about Alice. I'm sorry, but I think 'Oh, by the way you have a fiv year old daughter' was not the best way to go about it.

 _Flashback – A Little Under Seven Years Prior_

 _"You think I should take the job?" I asked Egon stunned. He didn't ask me if I wanted to stay with him or if I would mind him coming with me back to London with me. He only said I should take the job._

 _"Of course, I do." He replied simply, "It would be a great experience for you to work with Scotland Yard and you've always wanted to work in forensics. It's hard to say when this chance will come again."_

 _"What about us?" I asked, slightly hurt that he hadn't put our relationship into consideration. I had before I even considered taking it. They were waiting on my answer._

 _"We can write to each other and we can call each other every now and then." He answered, "We would most likely be able to visit each other on holidays if we can get the extra time off."_

 _Needless to say, we never got to the stage where we thought about visiting each other. We didn't even get to the point where we would call each other. For a little over a month, we exchanged letters, but then after he got a permanent job with a university, the letters started to become scarce until they stopped coming completely. I guess he had gotten too busy to write, not that he was completely at fault; since I had started working under Nick, I hadn't much time for anything else, and when I did have the time, I slept._

 _"You look pale, kid." Nick commented as we went through some paperwork for a case we were currently working on. "You want to talk the rest of the day off?"_

 _"I'll be fine, Nick, really." I replied, trying to suppress the urge I had to be physically sick, "It's just a couple more hours."_

 _"Take it with you." He suggested, "You're obviously sick, you should be at home. If you still feel this way tomorrow, call me and then look at the case files at home."_

 _"Thank you, Nick." I told him gratefully as I got up._

 _I could barely make it home before I pitched the contents of my stomach. After I cleaned up, a terrifying thought began to dawn on me. I was late._

 _"No…" I inhaled sharply. I scrambled out of the bathroom and ran into my room, thinking I must have miscalculated, but the evidence was painstakingly clear on the calendar. It was three weeks late, so far. "I'm stressed, I can't be pr-"I stopped myself before uttering the word, "That isn't possible, no. We only did it once."_

 _'That's all it takes.' My thoughts chided._

 _I picked up the phone and called Anna, she'd be out of class at the moment and usually when she was on break, she would go home._

 _"What's up?" She answered the phone._

 _"Do you always answer the phone like that?" I asked her, "What if it wasn't me?"_

 _"I had a feeling you were going to call." She replied, "If it wasn't you, I'd ask who it was. Now, what's up?"_

 _"When's your next class?"_

 _"My last class was cancelled." She answered, perplexed as to why would ask, "What's wrong?"_

 _"Can you come over?"_

 _"That doesn't answer my question." She replied bluntly._

 _"Please Anna." I implored, "I promise I'll tell you when you get here."_

 _"Alright, do you want me to bring you anything?"_

 _"A pregnancy test." I replied hesitantly._

 _"I'll be right there." She stated before hanging up the phone._

 _True to her word, she was there in little under two hours with the test. She waited with me until I got the results as well._

 _Positive._

 _"What are you going to do?" She asked._

 _"I'm going to keep it."_

 _"But I thought you didn't want kids." She replied, "And your job, how is that going to work?"_

 _"I don't know."_

 _"Do you know who the father is?"_

 _"Yeah." I looked from the test to her, "So do you."_

 _"Egon?"_

 _"Huh, I didn't know he had it in him." She commented lightly._

 _I rolled my eyes. Now was not the time to be humorous or even try to joke, this was serious and life altering. I am not ready for a kid. Although, who really is ready for kids when they have them? Of course, I thought if I did have kids, I'd be married at least first. I thought I'd be older than twenty._

 _"How about I go get some food while you find a doctor?" Anna suggested._

 _"Okay." I agreed half-heartedly, still consumed by my thoughts. She left the apartment to go get food and I sat on my bed thinking about what I was going to do._

I looked up at Egon and asked, "Have you ever had something you needed to tell someone and didn't know how to say it?"

"No." He replied bluntly.

"And if, hypothetically-"

"I'm not going to play that game with you, Sarah." He cut me off, "What is going on?"

I took a deep breath and started from the beginning.

 _Flashback – Six Years Prior_

 _"So, what will you call her?" The nurse asked as I held my little girl in the hospital bed. It was just me when I ended up giving birth. Anna was stuck in New York due to a freak snowstorm. Peter had flown back the week before because he had to get back to work._

 _"Alice…" I replied, not looking up at the nurse, "Alice Elizabeth…"_

 _"That's very pretty." She told me sincerely, "I'm sure her father will be thrilled."_

 _"I'm sure he would if he knew." I responded honestly._

 _"I'm sorry, miss." She apologized, "I shouldn't have said anything."_

 _"It's alright." I sadly smiled at her, she meant well, "We had drifted apart before I found out." I changed the subject off of Egon, "Do you know when we can go home?"_

 _"I'll ask the doctor." She replied softly, "I'll be right back."_

 _I looked down at Alice, my sweet little angel, who was looking back at me with her sweet amber eyes like I had all of the answers that she was ever going to need in this world._

 _"I've never really done this, so I don't know if I'm always going to have the right answers for you." I confessed to her, "Sometimes I'll protect you from everything that's wrong, eventually other times, I'll let you find out things on your own. Sometimes you're going to cry and think that everything's going wrong and other times you're going to be so happy that you'll think your life can't get any better than the present. That's the thing about life, there's no guarantees to how it's going to go. You just have to keep believing that everything will be okay if you keep going." I gently stroked her cheek, "I'm afraid you'll have to suffer through some of my mistakes. I promise, I'll be trying to do everything I can to give you your best chance. Eventually, you'll see why I do everything I do for you." I kissed her head, "I can make you one promise though, Alice, you are always going to be loved by me."_

I could feel the back and forth of emotions going through Egon as he stared at me stoically. He showed as much emotion as a Vulcan. There were times when I thought he felt as deeply as they did too. He was not angry with me, anger didn't even register with him. He was hurt and upset that I hadn't told him. He was ecstatic that she existed, however, saddened that he had missed out on the pregnancy, the birth, and the first five, almost six, years of his daughter's life. A small part of him felt guilty that he had gotten so busy to keep communication and that he never visited, but it was engulfed by confusion and disbelief that I hadn't reached out to him when I had found out.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know how."

"Calling and telling me you were pregnant would have worked." He replied, "I would have been on the first flight out there."

"I'm so sorry, Egon." I apologized, "I know I should have told you years ago. I should have told you when I found out. I could never find the right words to tell you and I didn't want that to be the sole reason for you to stay with me, to leave everything you've worked for to be with me."

"Why isn't she here?" Egon asked, "The extra room is obviously for her, why didn't you bring her with you to New York?"

"She's still in school." I answered, "My friend, Nick, and his wife, Judy, have a couple of daughters around her age and they offered to let her stay with them in London until I had finished everything I needed to do here. I still have to find a school here to transfer her to, but I don't know if I want to move her in the middle of the school year. I can't have her live there while I'm here though, two weeks already feels like it's too long."

"I want to help in any way I can." He stated, "I can help you find potential schools, help you finish the apartment before she comes, help with the accounting, billing, and the books for Ghostbusters-"

"How did you know I was going to take over the billing?"

"Peter." He answered, "He had mentioned to Ray and I how much you and Anna were taking on for the business. Ray offered to help Anna figure out a marketing strategy and I told Peter I would help you with the finances."

"Thank you, Egon; you're amazing." I told him gratefully, "Why are you so good to me?"

"I care about you." He responded, before changing the subject, "Is there anything else I need to know or that you want to tell me while I'm here and we're alone?"

"Have I mentioned the firehouse is haunted?"

He shook his head, "No, I don't believe so. I would have remembered if you had." He looked at me curiously, "How would you know? Did you see something?"

"Seeing and communicating with spirits is not really my ability." I replied cryptically.

"If you did not see an apparition, how would you-" He stopped himself short of asking that question to ask another one, "What is your ability?"

I could trust Egon, I knew that much. I had always been able to trust him to keep my secrets. He always had.

"I'm an Empath."

"You sense the spirit and are able to feel their emotions."

"Depending on their energy and how strong their emotions are." I nodded, "It's much easier to feel the emotions of the living."

"What do you mean?"

"Anything you feel, within reason, I will feel." I explained simply, "The stronger connection I have to a person, the more of their emotions I will be able to feel and sometimes even their reasons for their emotions will be easier to determine."

"Can you feel mine?"

"Not only do I feel many of them, I usually know the reason."

"Why?"

I shrugged, "It just the way it ended up happening. I can do it with Anna too."

"You and Anna are twins."

"And I was in love with you." I pointed out, "It just the way it works." I added before changing the subject back to the ghost, "The spirit in the firehouse is harmless. She's lonely and sad, and confused. There's no anger or malice in her."

"You don't want her to go in the containment system."

"That is the last thing I want for her."

"How do you know the spirit is a 'her'?"

"She spends a lot of time talking to Anna." I answered, "Well, talking at her. Anna tries to pretend she's not there, even though she knows that can see and communicate with her."

"That explains what happened in the library."

"Anna doesn't really have any control over her abilities." I commented before admitting, "Then again, neither do I."

"Can Alice-" He started to ask.

"Like any kid her age, she sees and believes in unexplainable things." I replied, "We won't know until she's a bit older if she has any paranormal, supernatural, or psychic abilities. I mean there's a chance she could, but there's also a chance that she doesn't."


	7. The One with the Car

**Chapter Seven: The One with the Car Looks like a Hearse**

 **Anna's POV**

We were able to shoot the commercial and get them running on the stations within a week. It didn't look half bad, but you could definitely say that they weren't actors. It was just me and Egon renovating the area that would eventually become a lab for Egon and Ray.

"You're quieter than usual." I commented to Egon, not that he was a chatterbox, but he was not usually this silent.

He sighed, "I just have a lot on my mind, Anna."

"Sarah told you about Alice." I noted, observing the difference in his stature at the mention of his daughter and recognizing the changes that have come over him in the past few days. "She's a lot like you, you know. She has your eyes and your quiet manner. And she's smart with this aptitude and curiosity for learning. The school has been talking to Sarah about her possibly skipping a grade or two."

"I know." He replied, "I've been helping her look into different schools."

"That's very big of you."

"I didn't see how it would benefit anyone by being angry about the situation."

"What are you going to do about you and Sarah?"

"What about us?"

"You were about to propose before you guys broke up, Egon." I remarked, "Those feelings don't just go away so easily."

"Anna, I know you mean well, but please drop it." He replied seriously.

"But Egon-"

"Hey Anna, that woman you and Sarah decided to hire is here, you wanna show her around, while I supervise Marty on the sign?" Peter asked poking his head in the doorway.

"Yeah, sure." I agreed and went down the stairs with him.

"Good luck with her." Peter told me before he went outside. I went into the office to talk to our new receptionist. Janine was Sarah's pick for the job. It was down to Chris, a gorgeous moron, who was in-between two modeling gigs and Janine, an experienced secretary.

"Janine?" I asked, so I could get her attention as I came over to her, she looked at me blankly. I took that as a sign for me to continue, and then offered, "I'm Anna, you interviewed with my sister a few days ago. She's going to be gone for the next few days, but asked for me to get you acquainted with the business. I was hoping I could show you around, so you're not just standing around waiting for Peter, Ray, and Egon."

 _ **"I don't think she's going to take you up on the offer."**_ Alexandra, our resident ghost commented. It took everything I had not to roll my eyes.

"I'd rather wait for the Ghostbusters."

 _ **"Told you."**_ Alexandra smirked.

"Alright, suit yourself." I replied, "They should be in, when they're finished with what they're working on." I left her standing in the office, wishing we had hired the model.

Alexandra brushed her hand through her wavy blonde locks, **_"She's got a stick up her-"_**

"While I agree with the sentiment, Alexandra, I don't think it's the right time to express it." I told her, "What do you want know?"

 _ **"I'm bored."**_

"Then find something to do."

 _ **"I have, I'm talking to you."**_

"Well, I'm about to go outside, so you're not going to have me to talk to for much longer." I told her, she couldn't leave the firehouse for some reason. I didn't know if it was out of choice or if she was stuck here, but she didn't go outside. "Why don't you bother Egon in the lab?" I suggested, "He can't see you. You can move things around on him."

Her face lit up as she started to disappear. I went outside to watch Marty put up the sign.

"What happened with the woman?" Peter asked as I came up next to him.

"Her name is Janine." I reminded him, wishing I had gotten a jacket before coming out here in jeans and a t-shirt. "She wants to wait for you, Ray, and Egon."

Peter rolled his eyes.

"Where is Ray by the way?"

"Went to get a car." He replied before calling up to Marty, "You don't think it's too subtle? You don't think people are going to drive down and not see the sign?"

A siren caught our attention before Peter could ask any more questions, it was a black car that looked like a cross between an old ambulance and a hearse. The car stopped in front of the building.

"You can't park that here." Peter yelled at the driver as he parked. Ray got out of the car, shutting the door behind him.

"Everyone can relax, I found a car." He announced, "Needs some suspension work, and shocks, and a brakes, brake pads, lining, steering blocks, transitions, rear end-" He started to list off, before Peter stopped him.

"How much?"

"Only 4800." Ray replied, before listing off more things that would need to be fixed with the car.

"No wonder it was so cheap." I commented.

"All of these things can be fixed though." Ray told us, "I'll fix up the car in my spare time."

"You know, if we work on it together, we can finish it faster." I offered Ray.

"Do you know anything about cars?" Peter asked me.

"No." I replied, still looking at Ray, "But Ray does, he's always been really good with cars and I learn really quickly. I'd like to help if I could."

"I'd like that." Ray smiled softly.

"And I'd like to get our new receptionist working as soon as possible." Peter commented, we both looked at him, "Why don't you go get Egon, Anna, so we can talk to our new receptionist?"

"Her name is Janine." I reminded him again, "And why don't you go get him? I'm not your 'gofer'."

"Fine, if you want to stay here flirting with each other, I'll go get Egon." He told us and went back inside.

"Well, that's Pete for you." I replied awkwardly, running a hand through my brown hair, "He probably won't give you any peace if you stay out here talking to me."

"I don't care." He replied, "He and Egon can talk to Janine, set her up at her desk. Why don't we bring in the car? We can start fixing it in the garage."

"Yeah." I agreed, crossing my arms feeling the cold autumn air brush past me.

"Here." Ray said as he took off his jean jacket, handing it to me, "Did you bring any winter clothes with you?"

I put on the jacket, which practically swallowing me, due to my small stature. "I haven't gotten around to unpacking them yet." I told him as we got into the car. He pulled it into the garage and we got out of the car. "Where do you want to start first?"

Ray opened the hood of the car, "I thought we'd start here. We can inspect the engine and take a look at the transmission, the radiator, the brakes, and the battery."

"Okay, what can I do?" I asked him, looking under the hood, "And where are all of those under here?"

Ray pointed and explained the different parts of the car that were under the hood, how they worked, and what they did for the car. After he finished explaining, he got his tools and started to inspect and repair the car. I stood back and handed him tools when he needed them. After a while, we started to talk about the books I studied while I was doing my thesis.

"So, what ends up happening is this man is thrown in jail right before he is supposed to marry his fiancé and start his new position. These four guys, who were jealous of his success and love and just overall creepy dudes, arrange for him to be captured and secretly put into solitary confinement in the Chateau d'If, which is a prison that no one's ever escaped from."

"Why were they jealous?" Ray asked from under the hood as he pulled a cigarette out from the box in his pocket.

"I thought you quit smoking." I commented.

"I picked it up again a few years ago." He replied lighting the cigarette. I hadn't seen him actually with a cigarette until now. I couldn't really be around cigarettes. They irritated my asthma, my sinuses, and my allergies. I hadn't quite told Ray yet about the asthma yet, I knew he wouldn't have been smoking if I had. I got it later through a pneumonia that had been caught a little too late. I hadn't grown up with it, so he didn't know. "So, why were they jealous?"

I suppressed a cough, "One was jealous because he was in love with the man's fiancé, another was jealous of the man's new position, one was a neighbor without any morals, and the last man was a prosecutor, whose father was a Bonapartist and would go to prison if anyone found out, which would damage his position in society."

"Does he get out?" He asked as he moved to the other side of the car.

"I'm getting there, you'll see." I replied, suppressing another cough, "So for years, the man, Dantes was stuck in this isolated cell, losing his mind and his will to live until one day he hears another prisoner digging nearby, so he starts digging too. He meets the other prisoner, who turns out to be this old Abbe who knows the whereabouts of an immense fortune that used to belong to a wealthy Italian family. So, Dantes and the Abbe dig for several years, and while they dig, the Abbe teaches Dantes about history, literature, sciences and languages. When they eventually do get free, the Abbe dies. Dantes hides his body and sews himself in the burial sack, so that when the guards throw the bag into the sea, he can escape."

"And he goes and gets the money?"

"When he escapes, he ends up being picked up by smugglers, whom he joins until he can find the island where the treasure is located. After discovering the treasure, he emerges into society again as the Count of Monte Cristo, who had two goals: to reward the people who were kind to him and his father and to punish the people responsible for his imprisonment slowly and painfully."

"Hello?" I heard someone call as they entered the fire house.

 _ **"Heads up, a lady just entered the firehouse. Kind of tall, reddish brown hair. Guessing it's a customer for you guys."**_

"Thanks, Alexandra." I told her.

 ** _"Just keeping an eye out for the place."_** Alexandra replied before walking off, **_"It is my home too you know."_**

"What's going on?" Ray asked, looking back at me.

"It was just Alexanda." I answered.

"The ghost?"

"Yeah, she was giving me a heads up."

"Oh." He replied, looking back down under the hood. He changed the subject back to the book, "So what happens next?"

"You'll have to read the book." I teased.

"But I like the way you tell it." He smiled back at me.

I went over beside him, "And like that you've actually been listening to me ramble."

"It's an interesting ramble." He responded, before taking another breath from the cigarette. This time between the smell of the cigarette and the fumes of the engine, I couldn't suppress the coughing.

"Are you alright?" Ray asked concerned, putting out the cigarette, and then turning to try to help me.

"I'm fine, really." I replied, not used to the worry and concern I was getting, "I just need some air; you keep working on the car." I went outside and sat on the steps. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, but it didn't really help, I had been in there for too long. I took out the rescue inhaler, which I rarely needed now, and used it. "Fucking thing." I stashed it in the pocket of the jacket. I went back inside.

"You okay?" Ray asked as I came back over to him.

"Yeah." I nodded, "I just needed some air."

"That's good, I was worried."

"You don't have to worry about me, Ray, I'm alright." I told him, before noticing the grease or oil on his cheek, "You have something on your cheek." I gently wiped it way with my thumb. Our eyes locked on one another's. I had always loved his eyes, he had heterochromia: one of his eyes was green, while the other was brown.

"Thanks." He replied as he leaned in closer.

Before we could close the gap between us, we were interrupted.

 ** _"Egon's heading in the garage"_** Alexandra warned, _**"Peter sent him to get you and Ray. Something to do with the customer."**_

I stepped away from Ray, who looked at me confused. I looked from him, to Alexandra, to Egon who had just stepped into the garage, "We're coming, Egon." I told him, "I just have to go get my tape recorder, so we can get her experience on file."

"How did you-" Egon started to ask.

"Let's just say I have a friend on the other side." I smiled.

"Your friend keeps moving my paperwork and supplies." He commented vexed, before heading back to the lab.

"What was that about?" Ray asked.

"My guess is he's starting to get annoyed with Alexandra because she keeps moving his stuff around out of boredom."

 _ **"That isn't the whole truth and you know it."**_ Alexandra stated, " _ **I'll keep talking until you do. Seriously, I'll just keep talking, and talking, and talking, and if you leave, I'll just follow and talk more and more-"**_

"I suggested that she pay a visit or two to Egon."

"Why?"

"I don't know, she gets bored and sometimes I don't want to be her source of entertainment."

"That isn't right, Anna." He replied seriously.

"Why should I have to be her sole source of entertainment?" I asked starting to get slightly annoyed.

"You're the only one who can see her." He argued.

"That doesn't mean I want her by my side every second of every day." I retorted.

 _ **"I'm still here."**_

"You're the only one who can talk to her." He pointed out, "It isn't fair to the rest of us to be inconvenienced because you don't feel like being around her."

"Oh, bloody hell, I was going outside!" I retorted, starting to feel the English accent that I had acquired over the past several years and had been trying to cover up, "She can't bloody fucking leave the firehouse. I'm not going stay here all of the time and keep her bleedin' company cause I'm the only one who can bloomin' see her. I know I'm not overly helpful, but I can do more than that." I took off his jacket and put it on the car. I was done and I didn't want to say anything stupid or that I would regret. I walked out of the garage, happy now that Sarah gave me the keys to her apartment in case I wanted to get out of the firehouse for a while. I could hear Ray calling after me, but I didn't listen.

I whistled and called for a taxi, two stopped in front of me. I got into the one closest to me and gave them Sarah's address. I needed to cool off.

 **Ray's POV**

I sighed as I put my jacket back on and then went to the lab where they had our first potential customer. Egon had already hooked her up to the scanners and Peter was asking questions about her paranormal experience. His questions weren't serious at this point, he was just using her paranormal experience as a chance to flirt with her. Some things never really did change. I turned on the scanners and monitors, so we could watch her brain activity as she talked. I turned on a few other machines that could record the data that the scanners were giving off. When I went to turn on the last machine, I found Anna's tape recorder sitting on the machine. That hadn't been there a few moments ago.

 _'Alexandra'_ I noted in recognition. Peter and Egon wouldn't have had the time or the ability to go get it without Anna or me seeing them.

"And this voice said Zuul, then I slammed the refrigerator door and I left." The woman, who we found out her name was Dana Barrett, finished her tale, "That was two days ago and I haven't been back to my apartment."

"Generally, you don't see that kind of behavior in a major appliance." Peter told her. It was all I could do not to roll my eyes as I turned off the machines. "What do you think it was?"

"Well, if I knew what it was I wouldn't be here." She retorted.

"Egon, what do you think?" Peter asked him.

Egon turned to him with the flashlight on his head still on, "She's telling the truth or at least she thinks she is." He turned off the flashlight.

"Well, of course, I'm telling the truth." Dana said, "Who would make up a story like that?"

"Some are people who just want attention." Peter answered, "Others are just nutballs who come off the street."

"You know what it could be, past life experiences intruding on present time." I suggested as I sat down.

"Could be erased memories stored in the unconscious." Egon suggested, "I wouldn't rule out clairvoyance or telepathic contact either." He grabbed the cheezeits and sat down next to me.

"Sorry, but I don't believe in those things." She told us.

"Well, that's alright, I don't believe them either." Perter told Dana as he came over to her. Egon and I looked at each other and then looked back at the scene before us. "But there are some things we do, standard procedures in a case like this, which often bring us results."

"Well, I could go to the Hall of Records and check out the structural details of the building." I suggested, a small part of me wishing Anna or Sarah were here. He wouldn't be saying half the things he was, if one of them were. He knew Sarah would call him out on his bullshit, but he made more of a conscious effort for Anna to not be a complete asshole. "Maybe the building itself has a history of psychic turbulence."

"Good idea." Peter agreed.

"I could look for the name Zuul in the usual literature." Egon commented.

"Spates Catalog." I suggested.

"Spirits guide." Egon added.

"Tell you what, I'll take Miss Barrett back to her apartment and check her out." Peter told us and then corrected himself, "I'll go check out Miss Barrett's apartment." He looked down a Dana, "Okay?"

"Okay." She reluctantly agreed, nodding. She stood from her seat and thank us. She and Peter left.

"Where's Anna?" Egon asked as soon as they left.

"We got into an argument and she left."

"Why?"

"Because I don't think she should pawn Alexandra off on us when she doesn't feel like dealing with her."

"You can't expect her always to look after Alexandra." Egon told me, "I get annoyed that Alexandra shuffles around my paperwork, but I don't get angry with her because she never takes it out of the lab and it's easy to find."

Now I started to regret getting on her case about it.

"Can I give you some advice?" He asked me. I looked at him curiously. "You've been in love with her since we were kids and now she is here on a more permanent basis, I would advise you to tell her that you're in love with her. Don't make the mistake I made with Sarah, I let her slip away and I shouldn't have. I've regretted it ever since." He stood, "Give her a day or two to cool off and then call her. Anna's probably at Sarah's apartment, she gave her the keys before she left. I'd call there first, try to get her to talk to you." He left the lab.

A couple of days later, I was trying to help Egon research the spirit guides since the Hall of Records was a bust, the phone dropped in my hands.

"I can take a hint. Thank you, Alexandra." I told our resident spook gratefully and dialed Sarah's phone number.

"Hello?" Anna answered the phone.

"Anna, it's Ray." I told her.

"What's up, Ray?" She asked, I could tell from her tone that she was not too thrilled to talk to me at the moment.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gotten after you about Alexandra." I told her sincerely, "Could you please come back to the firehouse?"

"Why?" She asked, "It's not like I'm that much help."

"You've helped advertise." I pointed out, and then added, "You were helping me with the car a couple of days ago."

"I was telling you about the Count of Monte Cristo, while you were fixing the car." She replied, "I don't think that counts as helping."

"I do." I told her. Was it true? Not exactly, I could repair the car without her there, but it wouldn't be as enjoyable as having her with me. "Please come back, I think you could be helpful with Miss Barrett."

"Who?"

"She's our first customer." I replied, before recounting the story Dana had told us she experienced. "Do you know anything about a creature called Zuul?" I asked her after I had finished.

"I might have something about it in one of my texts." She replied, "I'll try to find it when I come back tonight."

"Thank you, Anna." I told her. She hung up the phone.

I put the phone away and then went to go back to work on the car.

 **Anna's POV**

I put away the phone and went to grab one of Sarah's jackets. She wouldn't care if I borrowed one while she was gone. I picked one out of the closet and threw it on, before I made my way out the door, making sure to lock it on my way out.

"Hey Pete." I greeted him as I passed him and the woman with the reddish brown hair from earlier, who I guessed was Miss Barrett. He didn't say anything, I guess he was a little too distracted with Miss Barrett.

To celebrate their first customer, I made a stop by Chinatown Brasserie to pick up a huge dinner. I made sure to get a small thing of hot and sour soup for Peter as well as vegetable spring rolls. For Ray and I, I made sure to get steamed pork buns and lamb dumplings, as well as vegetable potstickers for Egon. I picked up chicken fried rice and pork lo mein for all of us, as well as wok-fried beef. I also stopped into Two Little Red Hens and picked up a small 4" red velvet cake, which had always been one of Ray's favorites and a 4" yellow cake with vanilla buttercream frosting, which reminded me a little of Egon's love of Twinkies. One of the bakers was kind enough to give me a box, so that I could carry both of the cakes and the Chinese food.

"Hello?" I asked as I came into the firehouse.

 _ **"Didn't think you were coming back tonight, chickadee."**_ Alexandra greeted me.

"Can you go get Ray or Egon for me, Alex?" I replied, "This is a little too heavy for me."

 _ **"I'll do my best."**_ She replied before going upstairs. It wasn't too much longer before I saw Alexandra coming back down with one of Ray's spirit guide books, and put it in the box next to one of the cake boxes. _**"He should be right down, I took it while he was reading it."**_ She disappeared.

"Alexandra, I need that." Ray called after her as he headed down the stairs. "Anna…" He smiled when he saw me and then hastened his pace down the stairs.

"Hey Ray," I greeted as he came over to me, "I brought dinner."

"Here, let me take that." He offered as he took the box of food out of my hands.

"Thanks." I replied, "I got Chinese food and a couple of desserts."

"It smells amazing." He said as we headed up to the kitchen.

"I thought you and Egon might like something other than Gray's Papaya hot dogs and Indian food for once." We brought the food into the kitchen, Ray unpacked the Chinese food as I put the cakes in the fridge.

"What did you do, buy everything that wasn't seafood?" He teased as went to get some silverware.

"No, that'd be a little too much food." I replied, "Just some things I knew each of us loved or that all of us would eat."

"You bought pork buns." Ray commented happily when he saw them.

"Those are for us tomorrow morning." I told him as I picked them up and hid them in the fridge, so Peter wouldn't eat them. "The lamb dumplings are for us tonight. I also got vegetable potstickers for Egon, and vegetable spring rolls and hot and sour soup for Peter. Everything else the four of us would share." I added as I got four plates out of the cabinet.

"I smelt Chinese food." Peter commented as he came into the kitchen.

"Good cause that's what I got." I replied, "Why don't you ask Egon if he wants to eat?"

"Will do." Peter told me and went to go fetch Egon. A few minutes later, they both came into the kitchen. We got what we wanted and then set the rest of it in the middle of the table so we could get at it if we wanted to.

"Oh, I forgot something." I stood from my seat and headed for the sleeping quarters in realization. I had brought the rest of the international alcohol with me here. I pulled out some bottles and brought them back out for us to have. "Alright guys, Irish, German, Scottish, or Polish?" I asked them setting them down on the counter.

"What have you got there?"

"Guinness, Schneider Weisse Tap 6, Windswept Wolf, and Kormoran Imperium Prunum." I listed off. I picked up the Guinness, it may have not have been the best of the bunch, but it was my favorite. Ray picked up the Windswept Wolf, the Scottish beer. Peter got the Schneider Weisse, the German beer. Egon picked the Kormoran Imperium Prunum, the Polish beer.

"To our first customer." Peter toasted.

"To our first and only customer." Ray said, which we all drank to.

"I'm gonna need to draw some petty cash." Peter told Ray, "I'm gonna take her out to dinner, we don't want to lose her."

"Um, that's not gonna happen." I spoke up. The petty cash had been given to me, so Peter wouldn't do this.

"This fantastic feast here represents the last of the petty cash." Ray broke it to him. I silently thanked him. "We thought it would be best to spend it on food."

"If you want to date the woman, take her out yourself." I commented, "Which I think may be a conflict of interest and unethical seeing she's currently our client."

"It can be unethical to date a coworker too, but-" Peter jabbed.

"That's none of your concern, even if I had."

"You're not?" Peter replied, quickly glancing at Ray and then looking back to me. Ray looked between the two of us confused, like he was missing a part of a conversation that he should have been included in. Egon looked down and focused on his food.

"It's still none of your concern." I insisted, 'How did he even-'

"We got one!" Janine exclaimed, before an alarm sounded through the firehouse.

"Call!" Ray exclaimed excitedly. He and the others got up and scurried out the kitchen to get ready to go. I chuckled seeing Peter take his food with him. I followed them down, so I could see them off. Peter and Egon changed quickly and got into the car. I caught Ray as soon as he finished getting into his uniform.

"Good luck." I told him.

"Look Anna, I can talk to Pete-" He started.

"I can handle Pete." I spoke up before he could finish, and then kissed his cheek, "We can talk when you get back."

He looked at me surprised.

"Go." I told him, "Looks like they're waiting on you to drive."

He got into the car and they drove off. I went inside and headed over to Janine.

"So, where are they going?" I asked her, trying to make conversation.

"Some hotel." She answered.

"Oh." I replied not knowing what to say.

After a few awkward moments, Janine spoke up, "I can tell you have something going with Ray, but is Egon single?"

 ** _"If still being in love with his ex and having a daughter with her is what you mean by single, then yeah."_** Alexandra answered as she appeared on top of the filing cabinets, **_"I can't wait till we get more clients and I can mess with her files."_**

"Ray and I are just friends." I corrected her, ignoring Alexandra, and then answered her question, "Egon is not dating anyone at the moment." Feeling awkward about the subject at hand, I changed it, "Do you like Chinese food? We have extra, I could bring some down."

"That would be nice." She accepted.

"Alright, I'll be right back." I told her, before going up to the kitchen. I got the fried rice and the lo mien, and then put the rest of the food in fridge. I pulled out two mugs and made some green tea to go with the Chinese food. "Alexandra, you want to do me a favor?"

 _ **"What's up?"**_ She asked.

"Would you mind bringing the tea down?" I asked her sheepishly.

 ** _"I've got it._** " She responded.

"Thanks." I told her, grabbing some silverware, before heading down with the food. I set the food down on her desk. She picked up the fried rice and I picked up the lo mien. Alexandra brought down the tea a few minutes later. I silently thanked her.

 _ **"No problem, chickadee."**_ She told me, _ **"I'll be around if you need me."**_

She disappeared.

"So, do you have any hobbies?" I asked her, trying to start a conversation.

 **Sarah's POV**

"So, what do you think?" I asked Alice after I explained everything to her.

"Can I ask something before I answer?" She responded to my question with a question of her own.

"Of course."

"We move either way?"

"We'll see." I nodded.

"What do you mean?" She asked stoically.

"I was hoping we could visit a little early during your autumn break, give you a feel for the city." I answered, "And then if you like it, we'll look into moving there permanently."

"My autumn break starts tomorrow." She replied confused.

"Then we'd better start packing, haven't we?"

 **Anna's POV**

Janine went home a little after midnight. By the time she had left, the Chinese food I had brought down was gone and actually didn't mind her as much.

"Alexandra, I'm going to bed." I told her as I headed up the stairs, "Don't give the guys too much of a hassle."

 ** _"Out of sight, out of mind."_** She replied, which was basically her way of saying that she would leave them alone. I went to my room, changed, and then went to bed.

A few hours later I was awoken by a loud thud. I sat up in bed, rubbing my temples. "Guys?" I asked, knowing it wasn't an intruder, Alexandra would have warned me.

"It's just me, Anna." Ray told me, "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's okay; if I wanted quiet, I would be in an apartment outside of the city." I replied, "Where's Peter and Egon?"

"Egon's in the lab, running some test on some ectoplasmic residue from a ghost we caught." Ray answered, "Pete's taking care of the ghost, said something about getting breakfast afterward."

"You were the only one who wanted to sleep?"

"What I wanted to come back to, the other person was already asleep." He replied vaguely, shrugging it off.

"Oh." I responded, "Well, I'm awake for the most part and there was a surprise I had gotten for you, if you are still awake enough for one last thing for tonight."

"More than awake."

I took his hand and led him to the kitchen. He looked at me curiously as I pulled out one of the cake boxes out of the fridge. "I got this and another one for you and Egon, with my own money, to celebrate your first customer, well customers now." I told him shyly as he opened the box.

"Red velvet cake…"

"Those are still your favorite, right?" I asked as I got two forks out from the drawer.

He nodded, "They are."

"Do we need plates, or can we just eat out of the box?" I asked him as I handed him a fork.

"The box is fine." He replied as we dug into the cake. "That's really good." He commented after taking a bite. "It reminds me of the cake you got me when you visited last year for my birthday."

I remembered that weekend well, the university was closed for a break that week, so I came back to New York for a weekend and spent it with Ray for his birthday. It was one of the best visits I had had up till now. Peter had gone off for the weekend with a girl, Egon was working on a research study, so it was just the two of us.

"Same bakery." I told him.

"Do you remember that weekend?" He asked.

I nodded, "I do."

"Maybe-" Ray started, but stopped as Peter entered the kitchen, "Thought you were going to get breakfast."

"Decided to stay here." Peter shrugged, "Thought I might find something to eat here."

"Unless you plan on eating what's left of the Chinese food, we don't have anything left." I told him.

"Where'd you get the cake?" Peter asked.

"I bought it for Ray to celebrate your guy's first customer." I responded.

"Why didn't you buy one for me and Egon?" He asked, "Shouldn't we get one too?

"Egon has a cake." I pointed out.

"So, it's just me."

"You flirt with the customer?" I asked him. I heard conflicting muttered answers from him and Ray. Peter's was an unconvincing 'no', while Ray snorted a laugh and muttered 'yes'. "That's why you don't get a cake."


	8. The One Where Sarah and Alice Go to Stay

**Chapter Eight: The One Where Sarah and Alice Go to Stay in the Firehouse**

 **Sarah's POV**

We left London on flight the next day on a 4:05 pm flight and arrived at 7:10 in New York City. We went took a taxi back to the apartment and set our bags down.

"Did something happen here?" Alice asked as she explored the apartment.

"I don't think so." I replied, not exactly knowing what she meant. However, I was hoping that she wasn't getting the off-feeling I was. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know." She answered, "I just get this feeling we're not alone."

"Why don't you go set your stuff down in your room? It's the one on the left after you go through the carpeted area with the small table." I suggested, "I'm gonna double check something."

"Alright." She agreed and went to go find her room.

I called the Ghostbusters' firehouse.

 _"Ghostbusters' residence, Anna speaking."_ Anna answered the phone.

"Anna, it's Sarah." I told her, before I could continue, she spoke up.

 _"I didn't think you were coming back so early; I doubt you'd be calling from London with how expensive it is."_ She commented, _"What's up? I would think after the long flight you'd tired."_

"We are." I agreed with her statement.

 _"We?"_ Anna asked, _"Alice came too? I thought she'd still be in school."_

"She's on her autumn break." I told her, and then cut to the chase, "Have the guys had any customers in my apartment building?"

 _"Yeah, our first customer was like two doors or so down from you."_ She answered, _"I think her name was Barrett. I forget her first name, but she came in with the some story about a creature named Zuul in her fridge."_

"Is it still there?" I asked, that was the last thing I had wanted to hear. I didn't want Alice here if there was a haunting in the building.

 _"Well, I think Pete investigated her apartment, but I don't think he found anything."_ She answered. _"Hey Ray, did we find anything on the Barrett case?"_ She asked Ray. I wasn't surprised; usually when Anna was in New York, she was with him. _"Looks like we're still doing our research on Zuul. Egon and Ray haven't found anything yet."_

"Do you guys have room in the firehouse for two more people?"

 _"Yeah, sure."_ She answered, _"Why?"_

"Because I'd rather not expose Alice to more of the paranormal than she's already been exposed to already."

 _"We have ghosts here."_ She pointed out.

"But you can see and communicate with them." I responded, "And Alexandra's pretty harmless."

 _"C'mon up, if you'd rather stay with us than there."_

"We'll be up as soon as we can." I told her and then hung up the phone. I got Alice and then packed a day bag for both of us and then we headed to the firehouse.

 **Anna's POV**

"Looks like Sarah's gonna be staying with us." I told Ray after I hung up the phone. I sat on the couch next to him, "What's this?" I asked about the movie he was watching.

"Oh, it's Cujo." He replied, engrossed in the film. I started to watch the movie with him.

"Oh my god, what the fuck is wrong with that dog?" I asked him freaked out after watching it for a few minutes.

"We haven't even gotten to the part where he throws himself at the windshield of a car to get at the family."

"What the hell?" I asked, looking from the screen to him, "This dog dies, right?" I looked back at the screen, as Cujo started to kill some dude. As the dog started to attack the man, I buried my head in Ray's shoulder, "Seriously, how can you watch this?" I asked him, "Aren't you scared?"

"A little." He replied as he pulled me closer to him, "I can turn it off if you want."

"You're going to have to soon." I replied, not looking up. There was no way I was going to watch anymore of that movie.

"Why?"

"Sarah is coming to stay with us."

"So?"

"She's bringing Alice with her."

"Who?"

"She's my niece." I told him, "She's six."

"Okay, this is being turned off." Ray said as he turned off the movie and the VCR. He flipped around the TV channels, finally letting it land on Empire Strikes Back. "This work?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed, as I watched Han being led to be frozen in carbonate, "Why the hell does he say 'I know'? The love of his life tells him she loves him and he just says 'I know'? I mean I know it wouldn't be very 'Han Solo' to say 'I love you too', but c'mon, he could have managed more than 'I know'."

"He was going to his death." Ray argued amused.

"It doesn't matter." I told him.

"Who was on the phone?" Egon asked us as he came into the room.

"Sarah." I answered, "She and Alice are going to stay here."

Egon raised an eyebrow at my reply, "Is there something wrong with her apartment?"

"It's two doors down from the apartment of the woman whose haunting we're looking into." I told him, "She's concerned about Alice."

Egon nodded.

 **Sarah's POV**

"Hello Janine." I greeted as Alice and I came into the firehouse.

"Sarah." She greeted in surprise, looking up from her book, "I didn't know you were coming back so early. Who's this?" She looked down at Alice.

"This is my daughter, Alice." I introduced her to Alice.

"Is that my favorite niece?" Peter asked as he came out of the office behind Janine.

"Uncle Pete!" Alice exclaimed as she ran into his arms. He picked her up and ruffled her curly brown hair.

"What did you do get taller since the last time I saw you?" He asked her.

She nodded, "And I lost a tooth." She told him, showing off her missing tooth.

"How'd you do that?" He asked her entertained.

"It started to get loose, so I pulled it like you showed me."

"Peter!" I scolded.

"How would you like a tour around the place?" Peter asked her, ignoring me.

"Can I?" Alice asked me.

"Sure." I nodded. They left to start their tour down stairs. I picked up our bags, and then went upstairs. Ray and Anna were watching Star Wars. Egon was reading one of the spiritual guide magazines. "Do you ever get tired of those movies?" I asked Anna. She turned to face me happily.

"Hi Sarah." She greeted, before turning back to watch the movie.

"Has she chewed your ear off on the 'I love you' 'I know' bit yet, Ray?" I asked him, noticing which Star Wars movie it was.

He laughed nodding, "You just missed it." He responded, "Good to have you back, Sarah. Staying for long?"

"A week." I answered, before sitting down next to Egon. Ray and Anna were too engrossed in their movie to pay attention to us.

"Where's Alice?" He asked, setting down his magazine.

"Peter's giving her a tour of the firehouse."

He nodded, "I thought you were staying at the apartment, did something happen?"

"Alice got the feeling that we weren't alone in the apartment and I was getting an off feeling that was different from when I had bought it, and after hearing that one of my neighbors had an encounter, made me think we were safer here with you than in the apartment." I explained, and then added, "It also gives you a better chance to get to know Alice while she's here. It might give her more of a reason to want to say here, if you did."

"What do you mean?"

"I promised her that if she didn't like it here, we'd stay in London." I admitted. He looked at me incredulously. "Egon, I had to give her some safety net. Moving to another country and being pulled away from everything you've ever known is hard, especially for someone her age."

"Sarah, she's my-" Egon was cut off by Peter entering the room with Alice in his arms. I saw the look on his face when Peter came in with Alice. If he had any doubts that Alice was his, they were gone the moment he saw her. Alice had his amber eyes and the same shade of brown hair. Her hair was naturally fine and curly like mine though, whereas his was thicker. His expressions became softer when he saw her and all arguments from him ceased completely.

"And this is the living quarters and everyone." Peter told Alice, "Next to your mom is Egon, and on the couch is Ray, and you already know-"

"Aunt Anna!" Alice exclaimed as Peter put her down.

"Hey kid." Anna greeted her, "What do you think of the firehouse?"

"Uncle Pete let me go down the fire pole." She told her excitedly as she sat down next to her.

"He what?" I asked, looking over Peter, who merely gave me a wide grin.

"Thought it'd be fun for her." He told me.

"And you didn't think to ask me?"

"Not really."

I rolled my eyes. I knew there was a reason why I didn't leave her alone with him when he visited us. At least, it wasn't worse than her going down the fire pole, and she was fine. I knew that, it was easy to tell as I watched her chatter away with Anna as Ray watched them both with amused smile, his attention fully diverted away from the film. Peter aside, this was going to work. I had a good feeling that Alice was going to like it here.


	9. The One With the Apothecary

**Chapter Nine: The One with the Apothecary**

"Why don't you and I go out today?" Anna asked me the next morning as she got us both a cup of tea. "The boys are gonna be here all day, they don't work on weekends. Egon and Ray are gonna be here, so you don't have to worry about Peter doing something stupid. And it's not like Alexandra's going to let anything happen once she knows who Alice is."

"Sure." I replied, taking a sip of tea, "Decided to stop living on takeout?"

"It's getting a little expensive." She told me, "I mean we've gotten customers, especially since the boys did some business with a hotel, but it might be a better idea to save some of the money that's been coming in."

"Good idea." I nodded in agreement.

 **Egon's POV**

We had found nothing about Zuul in all of the guides and research journals we had sorted through. I had gone through every spiritual monthly I owned, Ray had sorted all of his paranormal research journals, and Anna had read all of the spirit guide magazines that Ray and I had in our collections. There was nothing about Zuul in any of them.

"What are you doing?" I heard a quiet voice as me. I looked over at Alice surprised that she was up this early in the morning. I shouldn't have been, it was almost 11:30 in London. I wonder if she had gotten any sleep. She was practically wired for sound when she went to bed last night.

"I'm trying to do some research." I answered simply.

"On what?" She asked curiously looking at the magazines, "The supernatural?"

"On a supernatural creature that was reported in apartment."

"Mine?"

"No, another one in your building." I answered honestly, "Why do you ask?"

"There's something in that building."

"That's why we're trying to figure out what it is."

"And it's not in any of these?" She asked referring to the magazine.

"No."

"Have you thought about trying a different type of book?" She asked, "These all look the same to me."

"What type of book would you suggest?"

She shrugged, "I don't know."

I had to remind myself I was talking to a six year old child and not an adult. I wasn't used to talking to a child, she didn't seem to mind though.

"So my mom tells me, you're my dad." She said after a few moments. And that was why she didn't seem to mind, "Are you?"

"I am." I nodded awkwardly.

"I'm Alice." She introduced herself.

"It's nice to meet you, Alice."

"I don't know what I'm supposed to call you."

"Neither do I."

 **Anna's POV**

Sarah and I left the firehouse around nine. When we left, Peter and Ray were still asleep, Alice was with Egon, and Alexandra was made aware of who Alice was and agreed to look after her when she wasn't with Egon as a favor to me to put Sarah's mind at ease. We started at a farmer's market that was in a town just outside of the city and then went into all of the little shops in the town for fun.

"What's this?" I asked Sarah as we stopped in odd little store called Pandora's Pantry.

"It looks like an apothecary." She answered uninterested.

"Let's go in." I urged.

"Let's not."

"C'mon, how often do you see stores like this?" I argued, "It could be fun."

"You're not going to let this go until we go in, are you?"

"I don't plan on it, no."

She groaned and agreed.

"You're not going to regret this." I smiled as I pulled her into the shop.

"Somehow I doubt that." She responded as we started to look around the shop.

"Looking for something ladies?" The store owner asked us.

I shook my head, "Not particularly. We were just curious."

"That is what brings in all who come across this shop." The woman replied knowingly, "You both look lost." She pulled two small vials out the pocket of her apron. "These can help you find your way." She told us, handing us each a vial.

"What are these?" Sarah asked skeptically.

"They're a collection of salts filled with natural essential oils that induce memory." The store owner explained, "I give them to those who are plagued with confusion, questions, and regret."

"How would you be able to see that?" Sarah questioned.

"It's in your eyes." The woman replied, "The salts are free. If you see anything you like, come to the counter and we can talk about a price." She disappeared.

"That was weird." Sarah commented as pocketed her vial of salts.

I shrugged and placed my vial in my purse. I looked around the shop even more interested than I was before. I stopped when something caught my eye on the table, a mandala. "This could be good for Alice." I said to myself as I picked it up and went to the counter.

"The mandala is fifteen." The lady told me, "Good present for your niece too."

"How did you…" I started to ask, but stopped myself. Something told me the more questions I asked about her and this place, the more curious and confused I'll be. I paid her for the mandala. She wrapped the mandala and placed it in a bag, and then pulled something out from the counter. It was a small bag of chocolate. "You'll want these after you use the salts."

"Why?" I asked, looking at the chocolate skeptically.

"Dark chocolate to spark your relationship." She told me, "Some pieces with traces of chili pepper and honey and others made with pomegranate juice and chai."

"I don't have a relationship." I told her stoically.

"You sure about that?" She asked. I looked down at the chocolate. I may not have a relationship, but I'd eat the chocolate.

"How much?" I asked her.

"Half pound bag," She mused, "I can give it to you for six."

I paid her for the chocolate and then went outside before she could talk me into buying anything else.

 **Sarah's POV**

I looked around, maybe there was something in this odd little shop that would be helpful to Alice if we stayed here. A bracelet caught my eye. It was small and simple with a rope like material as a chain. In the middle of the bracelet was a tiger's eye, which wasn't the prettiest stone, but it was supposed to bring protection from all forms of danger. It might be something she could use if we were to stay here with our apartment building being haunted and our family now being in the business of hunting ghosts. I picked up the bracelet and looked for a price, but there wasn't one. I went to the counter to talk to the store owner.

"How much for the bracelet?" I asked her.

"Ten." She answered without missing a beat, and then pulled out a small bag of chocolate from under the counter. "Dark chocolate pieces infused with vanilla, cinnamon, and exotic spices, dusted in cocoa powder."

"Do you just give out chocolate with every purchase?"

"No, but I made an extra batch of these and it looks like you could use them." She responded. I thanked her confused, and then paid for the bracelet. She placed them both in a small bag and then I went out and met up with Anna.

"That was weird." She commented as we headed down the street.

"Could have been worse."

"You wanna go back into the city?" She asked, "We could finish getting groceries and head back to the firehouse."

"Yeah, might as well." I agreed, "So are you going to use those salts?"

We got into the car we had borrowed from Peter.

"No clue yet." She responded.

"Me neither."

We drove back into the city.


	10. The One That Could Have Been

**Chapter Ten: The One That Could Have Been**

 **Anna's POV**

"This isn't a good idea." I told myself looking down at the vial of smelling salts in my hand. "Things happen the way they do for a reason. What would have been my life altering decision anyway?" I set the vial down on my nightstand and then went to change, so I could go to bed. I didn't have some huge decision that would have vastly altered my life from what it is now. I mean the only decision that I could have that would have- That was it. I could have went back to New York after I finished my bachelor's. I almost did. After I changed, I went back to my bed and picked up the vial on my nightstand and opened the lid. I was going to see what could have happened if I had come back years earlier.

 _Dream_

 _-1977-_

 _"So, Anna still going out with the boring British guy?" Peter asked boredly, after he got his coffee._

 _"Yeah, I guess." I shrugged as Ray came in._

 _"Guess what?" Ray asked as he sat down._

 _"Pete just asked about Jim." I told him as the waitress handed me my tea._

 _"Oh, how's that going? Ray asked._

 _"As well as a long distance relationship can, I guess." I replied, "Can we change the topic off my relationship? How's work?"_

 _"Boring." Peter replied, "Have you guys even slept together?"_

 _"Something tells me as my brother, you shouldn't ask that." I told him._

 _"Have you?" Ray asked curiously after Peter got up to go order some food._

 _"No." I shook my head, "I hardly ever see him. He's supposed to come to New York this weekend, but I don't hold too much hope on that happening."_

 _"What are you doing for the weekend?" Ray asked._

 _"Tonight, I'm making dinner for me and Jim. Tomorrow night, we're supposed to go see a movie. And then he leaves Sunday."_

 _"He flies all the way out here to spend only one full day with you?" Ray asked incredulously, "You'll fly out to spend a week with him and he only gives you a day, and that's when he shows up. Anna-"_

 _"If he doesn't show up, then he doesn't show up."_

 _By the time six rolled around, Jim had only not show up, he didn't even get on the plane. I got a call ten minutes before he was supposed to be here, he had apparently had a last minute rehearsal. This is what I get having a long distance relationship with an actor. Although knowing how he was before we started dating, I might not the only one he's with. The man's charming, but that doesn't mean he's always sincere. I deserved better than someone who isn't as invested in me as I was in him. I don't know why it took me so long to that I could do better._

 _I looked back at the Italian feast that took me two hours to prepare and then down at the phone in my hand, and then called someone I know who would appreciate my efforts. "Hey Ray, you busy tonight?"_

 _"No?" He replied confused._

 _"I have Italian food and tickets to see some movie called Star Wars." I told him, before proposing, "You wanna hang out with me this weekend?"_

 _"What about Jim?"_

 _"He's still in London." I answered, "You in or not?"_

 _"Uh, yeah." He agreed after a moment, "I'll be there as soon."_

 _"Okay, no rush." I replied, looking at the food. I could always reheat the pasta in the skillet if he took too long. I hung up and set the phone down. Ray wasn't like Jim, when he said he would be somewhere he's there. That's what friends do though. When Ray came over, I let him in and got us each a glass of wine. "You like chicken cacciatore, right?"_

 _"Sure." He replied as he shut the door behind him, "You're not bothered at all that-"_

 _I cut him off, before he could finish, "I'm more bothered by the fact I went to cook all of this food and got the tickets, knowing there's a good chance he wouldn't show up; but hey, at least makes a pretty good weekend for us, even if the movie sucks." I went to get the food. "Go ahead and sit, Ray." I told him. He sat down in a seat at the table and I set down our food._

 _"I'm sorry you're here with me instead of Jim."_

 _"It's no big deal." I shrugged it off, "I mean tonight was supposed to be, but that part's not so important anymore."_

 _"What was tonight?"_

 _"You don't want to know what tonight was."_

 _"Okay…" He nodded, before repeating, "What was tonight?"_

 _"Tonight was going to be my first time." I admitted._

 _"With Jim?" He asked casually. I bit my lip, wishing I could take back my confession. "Oh." He said in realization._

 _"I've been waiting for the right guy."_

 _"Good for you." He complimented, "You think Jim's the right guy?"_

 _I shook my head, "No, but he's not the worst guy either." I looked up at him, "I'd rather not die alone, so if I have to sleep with a guy who may not be the right one to be with right one, which is twisted by the way. It's like guys will respect a girl if she doesn't sleep with him, but he won't date her. Do you know how hard it is to be a girl? When it comes to relationships and sex, we're damned if we do and we're sure as hell damned if we don't." I started to freak out at the thought, "I don't want die alone."_

 _"You're not going to be alone." Ray moved closer to me, "You're smart, and sweet, and beautiful, any guy would be lucky to have you. The right guy will come along and you'll have this great night with this fantastic dinner and everything will fall into place for you both to sleep together."_

 _"Right, when?" I asked sarcastically, "You him? You want to do it with me?"_

 _"Okay." He agreed without hesitation and then realized what he had said._

 _"I was kidding."_

 _"So was I…" He replied unconvincingly, and then said after a couple of moments, "We can't do this."_

 _"Or could we?" I asked him starting to think about it, "I'd be one friend helping out another friend and we'd be the only ones who'd know."_

 _"If we did this, there'd be a lot of pressure on me." He stated, trying to voice some reason and rational thought, "You've been waiting a long time and I wouldn't want to disappoint you."_

 _"You couldn't, I'd have no one to compare you to." I pointed out, "You could be Casanova for all I know and I wouldn't know the difference if you were him or a guy who is dead on arrival."_

 _"I do like that." He said as he thought about it._

 _"It would be harder for me because I've got, what at least 4 other women to compete with?"_

 _"Three." He corrected, "This would only be for tonight?"_

 _"Just one friend helping out another friend."_

 _"We shouldn't do this…" He replied reluctantly._

 _"We shouldn't..." I agreed, smiling and shaking my head at the thought. It was Ray. Sweet, dependable, kind, smart, funny Ray._

 _"Let's do it." He suggested, rethinking the idea again, getting up from his seat._

 _"Okay." I agreed without hesitation, standing. "So, have you got any moves?"_

 _"I have a couple." He replied, "You?"_

 _"I might have one or two," I shrugged, "I don't know."_

 _"Okay, what's your move?" He asked, offering to let me start the madness that was about to proceed._

 _"Well, this usually works." I told him as I flicked off the light switch, and then pulled him towards me to decrease the distance between us. I let my hands snake up his chest and around his neck, before reaching up to kiss him, which after a few minutes of shock, he reciprocated._

 _A few hours later, we were lying in my bed amazed at what had transpired between us._

 _"Wow…" I commented._

 _"Yeah…." He agreed._

 _I turned on my side to face him, "You wanna do it again?"_

 _"So much." He answered, closing the gap between us._

 _The next morning, Ray went home so he could shower and change, and promised he would be back by this afternoon, so we could get dinner before we saw the movie. I got out of bed, not expecting to feel as sore as I did from last night's activities, and went to shower. We hadn't gotten any sleep last night. I don't know what it was - the chemistry between us, how good he felt (not only during the actual sex part or the foreplay, but just him lying next to me), or the way he looked and talked to me last night - but it was perfect. It felt right. I cheated on Jim, which is wrong, but I should feel a whole hell of a lot guiltier than I do and I don't. Except for the small part of me saying that cheating on someone is wrong, I don't feel bad at all for cheating on him at all because it was Ray and because…_

 _"Oh my god…."_

 _It had just hit me. I wasn't in love with Jim and I hadn't been for a while. I had feelings for Ray. I didn't know where the feelings for Jim ended and ones for Ray began._

 **Sarah's POV**

I looked down at the vial of the smelling salts not sure really what to do with them. The lady from the apothecary had given one each to me and to Anna, saying that we both had regret and these would give us an idea on how things would have worked out if we had chosen different paths. I already knew which decision was the fork in the road for me: 1977, I chose to take a job in London rather than stay behind with Egon. I made that decision for a reason, what did I need with these? Although, something bothered me about having the ability to find out and then not taking it.

I looked out at the city lights from my spot on the fire escape in the second floor. The city was so beautiful at night. London had its own beauty, but it was different from New York. Everything in London was different than New York.

I looked down at the salts again, "Alright, I'll bite, but something tells me I'm better off not knowing."

I went back inside the firehouse and into the lab where I was staying for the night. Egon had had this place set up with a small bed in the corner, so that if he was ever working late, which by my guess was quite frequently, he would have someplace to sleep in the lab instead of going upstairs to where the sleeping quarters were.

 _'I wonder what's in this.'_ I thought and then pulled out a small clean petri dish and set it on the table. I poured the contents of the vial onto the petri dish and dissected its contents. All of the contents were natural by the looks of it. The oils were made of jasmine, peppermint, lemon rinds, hyssop, and sandalwood. The ingredients weren't too surprising. They were often used in aromatherapy for fatigue and memory. These scents didn't seem to go together though. It wasn't the worst scent in the world, but it wasn't an overly pleasing one either. It was potent, strong, and was a bit of a shock to your system when you initial smell it. I put a cover on the petri dish, I'd clean it up in the morning, and then changed and went to bed.

 _Dream_

 _-1977-_

 _When I got to the airport, the closer it got to my boarding time the more I thought about leaving New York and leaving Egon behind. I couldn't do this. I know this job doesn't come around very often, but neither does a guy who cares about me and loves me as much as Egon. I went over to the payphones and called Egon, only to get his answering machine._

 _'Was he ever home?' I thought and then left a message on his machine, "Hi Egon, it's me. I'm at the airport and I feel awful. This is not how I wanted things to go with us, long distance relationships hardly ever work out. And now I'm here thinking about all of the things I should have said before I left. I didn't even get to tell you that I love you too. Because of course I do. I love you. I love you." I told him, before asking myself, "What am I doing? I_ love _you, I've gotta see you. I can't get on this plane."_

 _"Boarding Flight 142 to London." I heard over the intercom. The payphone cut off since I had ran out of money for the call._

 _I picked up my bags and got a taxi back to Egon's apartment building. I used my key for the main building to get in and then made my way up to his apartment. I unlocked the door with my key to his apartment._

 _"Did she get on the plane?" I heard Egon ask as the message on the machine ended._

 _"I didn't get on the plane." I told him._

 _He turned around to face me surprised, "You didn't get on the plane." He walked over to me and kissed me happily._

 _"I do love you." I told him as he pulled away._

 _"I love you too and I'm never letting you go again."_

 _"Okay cause this is where I wanna be." I pulled him into another kiss._

 _Egon broke the kiss, "There's been something I've been meaning to ask you and I was planning to do it later, but now seems like a good time." He got down on knee and pulled out a ring from his pocket. I gasped in surprise. "Sarah Rose Venkman, I know things haven't always been perfect with us, but I have to tell you from the moment-"_

 _I didn't need a speech, I already knew my answer, "Yes."_

 _"Yes?" He smiled._

 _"Yes, I will marry you." I told him as he slipped the ring on my finger._

 **Anna's POV**

 _"Well that movie was" I tried to find a word for it, "different."_

 _"I liked it." Ray commented as we headed out of the theater, "It wasn't Star Trek, but it was good."_

 _"That was better than Star Trek, Ray."_

 _We picked up some Chinese food and then headed back to my apartment._

 _"I'm glad I didn't see it with Jim." I told him as we headed into my apartment, "He would have hated it. "Those type of movies aren't really his cup of tea."_

 _"Maybe you'll see a different one when he finds the time to come up." Ray suggested as he shut the door behind him, before asking, "Why do you put up with that guy?"_

 _"What do you mean?"_

 _"You shouldn't be with him, Anna." He told me, "You should be with me."_

 _"Really?"_

 _"Yeah, every time you talk about Jim, it kills me." He told me as he came over to where I was standing, "Things like last night, they just don't happen, at least not to me. With the other two women, I would just lie there and I couldn't wait to go hang out with my friends, but with you, I was already with one of my closest friends." He confessed, before turning away shyly, "And I know you probably don't wanna go out with me, I make too many jokes and I've never been in a serious relationship, and I'm not an actor."_

 _I pulled him back to me and kissed him soundly, "There was just one other woman, wasn't there?"_

 _"No, there were two."_

 _"Including me?"_

 _"Oh, yeah." He nodded, before kissing me again._

 **Sarah's POV**

 _There wasn't really a wedding, neither of us really wanted one. We wanted a marriage, not a wedding, so with my siblings and our friends as witnesses we eloped a couple of months later. We shared an apartment on the upper west side; it may have been expensive, but it was worth it. Between both of our incomes we're lucky were able to afford it along with our bills, we wouldn't be able to afford much else especially with a baby on the way._

 _"Morning." Egon greeted as he came into the kitchen to get some coffee._

 _"Morning." I greeted as I picked at my bowl of strawberries with my fork. I had been waiting for him to get up._

 _"We?" He said reading the 'press and peel' note on his coffee mug, "What's this?"_

 _I took a bite of the strawberry and then replied, "Not sure, why don't you see what it says on the back?"_

 _He flipped it over and read, "Continued on half and half." He went over to the fridge and pulled out the half and half. He peeled off the 'press and peel' note before adding some half and half to his coffee, and then put the half and half back. "Are…" He read the note and then turned it over, "Continued on the spoons."_

 _I smirked as I watched him head over to the spons, "I wonder it could be."_

 _He turned back to me with a wide smile on his face, "Are you serious?"_

 _"Yeah." I nodded, standing._

 _"Are you sure?"_

 _I walked over to him, "Pretty positive." I pulled out the pregnancy test and showed it to him. "That's a joke cause the test says positive…"_

 _He kissed me happily, "This is incredible. We're going to be parents."_

 _"I know it's crazy."_

 _"A little, but it's exciting." He replied, "We're going to be parents."_

 **Anna's POV**

 _-October 1977-_

 _"I told you if you were going to move in, these pants weren't going to come with you." I said as I pulled the pants from one of the boxes as we unpacked his things. "We had a deal, mister." I told him as he tried to argue to keep the pants. "These are not staying here." I stood and started to go over to the bag we had started for goodwill. "I don't even know if goodwill will even take these."_

 _"Well if you're going to throw them out at least check the pockets." He responded. I started to check the pockets of the cargo pants. "So, we don't throw away any personal items."_

 _I pulled out a small box out of one of the side pockets and opened it. It was a ring. I turned around to ask Ray about it, but he was already behind me on one knee._

 _"I love you so much." He stated, "And I want to make you happy; I need to make you happy for me to have a chance at being remotely happy. Will you marry me?"_

 _"Yes!" I cried, "Yes, of course I will."_

 **Sarah's POV**

 _-December 1977-_

 _"She's perfect…" Egon said when he first saw the baby girl as nurse started to clean her off._

 _"She's so tiny." I commented in awe, "Where'd she go?" I asked Egon as the nurses brought the baby to a table._

 _"It's okay; they're just going to wrap her." Egon responded, as he brush a stray hair behind my ear._

 _"Here she is." The nurse told me as she placed the baby in my arms. Egon kissed her head._

 _"Hi." I said to the baby as she started to cry, "Hi, baby girl."_

 _Egon and I didn't have a name for her yet. We hadn't quite agreed on one; we had gone back and forth for months, but hadn't quite found the perfect name._

 _"She's looking at me." I told Egon, and then said to the baby, "Hi…"_

 _"Do we have a name yet?" The nurse asked._

 _"No, not yet." I answered._

 _"That's fine." She told us, "We'll just call her baby girl Spengler for now." She left us alone with the baby._

 _"Hello baby girl." I said to the baby again. I couldn't find any other words. I looked up at Egon, who smiled gently, and kissed me softly on the lips._

 _"She's beautiful, Sarah."_

 _"She's an angel."_

 _Peter, Ray, and Anna came to visit the next day._

 _"Can we come in?" Anna asked poking her head inside._

 _"Of course." I told her._

 _She opened the door, and she, Ray, and Peter came inside._

 _"There she is." Peter said when he saw the baby._

 _"She's so beautiful." Anna commented._

 _"You wanna hold her?" I asked her. She nodded, and I handed the baby to her._

 _"She's amazing." Anna said as she cradled her in her arms._

 _"Do you guys know what you're going to call her yet?" Ray asked us as Anna handed her back to me._

 _"We've narrowed it down to two names." Egon told them._

 _"I love them both." I told Egon, "So why don't you pick one and that'll be it."_

 _"Alice." Egon responded, "I want to call her Alice."_

 _I nodded in agreement, looking down at Alice, "Alice. Alice Elizabeth Spengler."_

 _"Hi Alice." Anna greeted her._

 _"Hey Alice." Peter told her, "You're going to be the most spoiled kid ever."_

 _They left shortly after._

 _"Merry Christmas, Egon." I smiled at him._

 _"Merry Christmas, Sarah." He kissed my head, and then kissed Alice's, "Merry Christmas, Alice."_

 **Anna's POV**

I woke up regretting ever smelling those damn salts. I didn't need to know my life would have been better if I had stayed in New York City. I would have been married by now, possibly with kids. I would have been married to Ray, which would be interesting, but something I wouldn't mind. Still though, I did need to know I could have been married at 22 to someone who loved me more than I ever thought possible.

I got out of bed and went to go get some tea.

"Morning Anna." Ray greeted. Peter nodded a hello as he picked up his coffee.

"Morning." I mumbled as I pulled down a box of Paraguayan Yerba Mate.

"That's strong stuff." Peter commented on my choice of tea.

"It's needed." I told him.

"Could you pull out a bag of that tea for me?" Sarah asked as she came into the kitchen. I looked back at her, she was having the same morning I was. "We're never going to that apothecary again." She muttered to me, "I didn't need to know what I do."

"No shit." I retorted as I pulled us each out a bag of tea and the slammed the box back its place in the cabinet. She heated the water and got down two mugs.

"So Sarah, when are you and Alice going back to London?" Ray asked, trying to make some conversation.

"Um, in a couple of days." Sarah answered, looking down, "We have to go back before Alice goes back to school."

"Why is she out?" Ray asked curiously.

"It's her autumn break." Sarah answered, "She gets a week off around this time every year. I guess you could say it's a little like how American students get a spring break, but instead of one break in the middle of spring, she has one in the fall and one in the spring."

"What do you think you're going to do while she's here?" Peter asked.

"Well, I'd like her to get to know you guys." Sarah replied, "Anna was going to do stuff with her while I found a job here." Sarah looked over to me.

"Uh, yeah." I nodded, "Try to keep her busy during the day while you find a job here and while Peter, Ray, and Egon are working."

"We don't work on weekends." Egon commented as he came into the kitchen still half asleep. He poured himself some coffee and sat down next to Sarah. "What's going on?"

"We were talking about what we're gonna do this week." I answered, "You guys are going to work, Sarah's going to look into jobs here, and I'm going to hang out with Alice."


	11. The One with the Concert

**AN: Hello everyone, thank you for reading this story. I apologize for the long wait, I hope this chapter and the next one will make up for it. Thank you TheNuttellaGoat for reviewing the story. Thank you to** **,** **ThatVegimiteMouse and** **DreamPrincess2591 for following and favoriting the story. I'm glad you guys like the story and hope you enjoy the chapter.**

 **Happy reading.**

 **Chapter Eleven: The One with the Concert**

The next few days went by quickly and before we knew it Sarah and Alice went back to London for the rest of the school year. Between me, Egon, Peter, and Alexandra, we were all able to convince Alice that there was a reason to live in New York with us. I also started to notice something I didn't know if Sarah knew yet: Alice's ability to see and talk to spirits was not going to be a temporary thing and she might be more powerful than both of us. It was just a suspicion though. It was the same one that told me that my kids could possibly share the me abilities as both Sarah and I. Each of the women on our mother's side of the family had psychic abilities or abilities that involved the supernatural in some way. It's almost practically inevitable that our daughters would end up with like us.

"You're in deep thought." Ray commented beside me, noticing I hadn't been paying attention to the movie. I couldn't even remember which one we were watching.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about Alice." I told him, "What are we watching again?"

Ray looked at me oddly and then paused the film, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's nothing." I responded as I leaned into him closer, and then I notice something on the other side of him on the table: the chocolates I got from the apothecary. I moved away from him instinctively, "Where'd you get those?"

"I found them on the kitchen counter." Ray answered, "Why?"

I could tell him about the chocolates and probably should, this was my chance to. I didn't and here's the reason why: He would stop eating them. The smelling salts worked, these could too. Let's see what these could do, if they even did anything.

"Just curious."

"That didn't sound-" He started to object, but I interrupted him before he could finish. If these did work, we'd be in for an interesting night. "You didn't happen to see another bag like this, did you?"

"I gave the other bag to Egon." Ray replied, "Didn't think you guys would mind since you two were talking about throwing them away anyway."

"If you two are interested in them, you can have them." I told him, and then repeated the question I had asked earlier, now starting to get a glimpse at what was going on in the movie that I had somehow missed, "What are you watching?"

"Poltergeist." He answered slightly reluctant, "Do you want me to turn it off?"

"Where'd the clown go?" I asked, but I spoke too soon the clown reappeared behind the boy. I didn't see anything after that. I was too busy hiding my face in Ray's chest.

"Okay, this is going off." Ray stated and shifted a little to stop the movie and turn off the VCR. The channel was still on MTV and they were streaming a Billy Joel concert. I moved so I could watch the concert.

"I love Billy Joel!" I exclaimed, sitting up, "I saw him at Wembley in June, he was amazing."

"I know you love him, you have for years." Ray responded, "I saw that concert too on TV, it was good."

I have no clue what he said after that, Billy Joel started to sing 'Piano Man' and I was lost. He must have noticed because he stopped talking. Without noticing it, I started to sing along with the song. The alarm started to go off during 'Don't Ask Me Why'.

"That's for you." I looked over at Ray, who didn't look like he wanted to move at all, "You'd better go."

"I know." He exhaled as he got up. It was odd he loved going out on calls, "I'll see you later?"

"I'll be here." I responded. He went to go suit up and then drove off with Pete and Egon.

Janine sat down on the couch shortly after they left.

"Whatcha watchin'?" She asked.

"Billy Joel concert." I answered, "He just finished singing 'Goodnight Saigon'."

"I didn't take you for a rock fan." She commented.

"I like a lot of genres and musicians." I responded, "Billy Joel is my favorite, but I also like Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Pat Benatar, Elton John, The Cars, Journey, ELO, Fleetwood Mac, Queen, the Eagles, U2, Hall and Oates, Tears for Fears…" I listed off, "And that's my short list."

"And it's all rock."

"Mostly." I shrugged, "So what's up? Did you just want to hang out or did you want something?"

"With how busy it's been getting, have you thought about getting another person to help with the phones?" Janine asked, "Not saying that I can't handle it, but it might be more efficient with two people instead of one and I know you've said previously that you don't want to answer the phone."

"I'd rather not." I responded, "I'll talk to the guys about getting another person to help out with the phones. Maybe that way you could actually have a life outside of being here."

"What do you do when you're not here?"

"I don't have a life outside of being here." I told her, "I live here, work here, and hang out here."

"What do you when you're not working?"

"I watch movies or TV, or read, or listen to music, or write, or play cards." I answered not knowing really what to say. I wasn't the most exciting person and she didn't know about mine or Sarah's abilities, nor did she need to, so I wasn't too inclined to tell her about Alexandra and how I'd talk and hang out with her.

"What do you like to-" Before she could finish her question, she stopped and asked another one, "What are you guys doing back so soon?"

I turned around to see Ray, Egon, and Peter coming into the living room.

"That was quick." I commented.

"Easy job, close by." Egon answered, "Have a good night."

Egon set his stuff down by the wall and then left. Peter didn't stay too much longer either.

"Janine, if you could turn off the phones for the rest of the night, that'd be great." Ray told her, "Just direct all of the calls to the answering machine and we'll sort through in the morning."

"Okay." She agreed and then went downstairs to go do as he asked.

Ray pulled me up from the couch as Billy Joel started to sing 'Just the Way You Are', I looked at him questioningly as he pulled me close to him. "What are you doing?" I asked gently, it's not that I was against what was happening, quite the contrary, but this wasn't something I was used to.

"Something I've wanted to do for years." He answered as we danced slowly to the song. Before I could ask what he meant, he answered my question as he kissed me softly. He pulled away just as quickly, "Anna, I-" He started, but before he could finish, I pulled him back into the kiss. We remained that way for the rest of the concert.

 **Egon's POV**

"Alexandra, I'd appreciate it if you left these alone." I told her, referring to the stack on the desk. I knew she could hear me, if I talked to her. I couldn't see her and I didn't know where she was at moment, for all I know I could be talking to thin air, but Alice, Sarah, and Anna have all said that she enjoys being in the lab most of the time, so there was a chance that she did. "If you do hear me, can you give me a sign?"

Ray's camera moved from the table where he had left it to its case.

"Thank you." I told her.

I had to get used to Alexandra, it's not like she was going to go anywhere. I've started to figure out how to communicate with her though through yes or no questions, asking her to move things as a way to answer questions, and having her write on the on the whiteboard if needed. I may not be able to hear or see her, but I could interact with her. If I could though, I'd ask her about an interaction she had with Alice. Some of the things she said struck me as odd, I don't know why Alexandra would tell her those things.

"Alexandra, are you still here?" I asked her, "If you are, pick up the book from the table." I instructed. The book floated off the table. "Did you tell Alice how you died?" I asked her. The book was thrown towards me, I moved so that it wouldn't hit me in the head. "I'll take that as a no, I'll ask Anna."

I made my way back to the living room, but stopped short when I saw her with Ray. I knew if I talked to Anna now I would be interrupting something. I know Ray had been working up the courage to make a move, but it's not like she was going anywhere. If he had made a move on her seven years ago, she wouldn't have gone back to London. Although, if I would have proposed to Sarah, neither would she have. Of all of the moments I could live over, that would be it.

I cleared my throat to get their attention, they both separated. Ray looked slightly miffed, but Anna didn't mind.

"What's up, Egon?" Anna asked, "I thought you went to bed."

"I went to the lab." I told her, "By any chance, were you the one who told Alice how Alexandra died?"

"I have no idea how she died." She responded honestly, "She doesn't like to talk about how she died, so I don't bring it up."

"How would she find out about it?"

"She has abilities like me and Sarah." Anna answered, "I don't know what her abilities are, but I do believe she might have powerful ones. We won't really know what they are until she's a bit older. Although, I've had my abilities since I was her age, maybe earlier. Sarah didn't think she had hers until she was like twelve or thirteen because at first I was the only one she could use her abilities on."

"What changed her mind?"

"Something happened with you." She shrugged, "Or at least that's what I've always thought, she's not the most open when it comes to you and if anyone's going to trigger a change in her mind, it would be you. Well, that and ghosts came later for her. Sometimes you have to hone one skill before you develop another. Anyway, I wouldn't worry about Alice. If she didn't seem bothered by it when she talked to you, she's fine."

"Alexandra didn't tell her."

"She probably saw it." Anna replied blankly. Ray and I both looked at her oddly, she noticed the looks we were giving her, so she went on to explain. "It's kind of like watching a moment that's been frozen in time and repeating over and over, like a residual haunting. If she's seeing those, then she might have abilities a little like mine because I see those when I'm out of it."

"Out of it?" We asked.

"Lack of sleep, stressed, sick." She clarified, "Out of it."

"So these abilities of yours are hereditary?" I asked.

"Every woman on my mom's side of the family has had these abilities." She answered, "So to my knowledge any daughters that Sarah or I have could easily have them."

"Doesn't that worry you?" I responded.

Anna looked up at Ray briefly and then looked down, "It scares me, scares both of us, but we have each other and we'll be able to understand what the girls are going through. Tell them that they're not insane when they see things that no one else does or being oversensitive when they feel things that they can't describe and don't know why." She explained and then left the room. She came back with a vial in each hand. "I may not be able to really show or describe what it's like, but maybe these might." She handed each of us a vial filled with colored salts.

"What are these?" Ray questioned.

"Have you ever had something you wish you could change?" She asked both of us in return, instead of answering the question directly, "Something you know would have completely changed your life if you had done one thing differently?" She continued, "Use these smelling salts tonight before you go to bed."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I asked you to?" She responded, "Goodnight guys."

She left the room and headed up to the sleeping quarters. Ray watched her as she walked up the stairs.

"Did you finally ask her out?" I asked him out of curiosity

"No." He shook his head.

"We rushed back here, so you can finally ask her on a date and you didn't?"

"I haven't broached the subject with her yet." Ray responded. I rolled my eyes, what else was new?

"Are you going to use yours?" I asked as I held up the vial in my hand.

"Yeah." He affirmed. I didn't bother asking why, I already knew the answer. Instead, I asked a different question.

"What's your regret?"

"June 5th, 1977." He responded with a sigh, shaking his head, "I would do that day over if I could."

That answer I found strange. It wasn't a regret, it was a date. I took the answer for what it was and headed back to the lab.


End file.
